Tom Brady, Buccaneers visit White House, joke with Biden about election

July 20 (UPI) — Tom Brady and the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers visited the White House on Tuesday. Brady used the opportunity to joke with President Joe Biden about the 2020 election.

“Not a lot of people [thought] that we could have won, and in fact I think about 40% of the people still don’t think we won,” the Buccaneers quarterback told reporters at a news conference, referencing the election.

“We had a game in Chicago where I forgot what down it was. I lost track of one down in 21 years of playing, and they started calling me ‘Sleepy Tom.’ Why they do that to me?”

“I understand that,” Biden responded.

The Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7 in Tampa, Fla. Brady’s previous six Super Bowl victories came with the New England Patriots. He has won titles while four different presidents were in office.

Tuesday’s visit marked the first time an NFL champion visited the White House since the Patriots in 2017. Brady skipped that visit, and a visit when Barack Obama was in office in 2015.

The Patriots’ entire team opted not visit Trump at the White House in 2019. Brady last visited in 2005, when George W. Bush was in office.

“A lot was made about the fact that we have the oldest coach to ever win a Super Bowl and the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl,” Biden said of Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians and Brady, respectively. “Well, I’ll tell you right now, you won’t hear any jokes about that from me.”

“As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing wrong with being the oldest guy to make it to the mountaintop! That’s how I look at it.

“And Tom, looking at you, you’ve got about 20 more years left, just about the best ever to play. Making it to 10 Super Bowls in the last 20 years? That ain’t bad, man. I tell you what, we’ve never seen anything like it in the game.”

Arians, team owner Bryan Glazer and players Devin White, Antonio Brown, Ndamukong Suh, Jason Pierre-Paul were among those attending Tuesday. About 40 players made the trip.

The team took a tour of the White House, posed for photos and presented the 46th President of the United States with a No. 46 Buccaneers jersey.

Biden recognized the Buccaneers for using Raymond James Stadium in Tampa as a vaccination site amid the coronavirus pandemic. He also encouraged Buccaneers players to get the vaccine.