DO YOUR JOB: After Exposing The Rest Of The NFL, Patriots Expose New York Times
By Evan Lips | April 20, 2017, 13:15 EDT
Not satisfied with leaving the destruction and devastation of 31 other National Football League teams in their wake, the reigning Super Bowl champion New England Patriots on Wednesday night were sufficiently provoked to lay waste to another combatant: The New York Times.
With the team visiting the White House for a meet-and-greet with President Donald Trump, the Times elected to take a poke at the champs in the form of a disparaging tweet that was apparently intended to use them as a pawn in promoting a narrative about Trump’s supposed unpopularity:
Patriots’ turnout for President Obama in 2015 vs. Patriots’ turnout for President Trump today: https://t.co/OxMEOqZonI pic.twitter.com/pLmJWhOw1j
— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) April 19, 2017
The team then proceeded to do what it had done all season long.
These photos lack context. Facts: In 2015, over 40 football staff were on the stairs. In 2017, they were seated on the South Lawn. https://t.co/iIYtV0hR6Y
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 20, 2017
The Gray Lady later walked back the claim, but as is the norm with social media, the clarification was seen by few while the now-unfounded allegation was viewed by thousands:
Another misleading story about Trump that receives over 32,000 retweets while the correction currently sits at… 54. Every single time. pic.twitter.com/ohUl0Q4lzN
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) April 20, 2017
Not finished, the Patriots later pointed out that the amount of players that attended the White House celebration this year was roughly the same as when the team won several Super Bowls during George W. Bush’s presidency:
Comparable photos: The last time the #Patriots won two Super Bowls in three years, 36 players visited the White House. Today, we had 34. pic.twitter.com/Aslvf1RaXU
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 20, 2017
The Boston Globe later came out with a piece that aimed to explain the photographic discrepancies — but only after it had drawn criticism for parroting the Times’s account:
According to Patriots spokesman Stacey James, the White House at one point during Wednesday’s proceedings chose to seat the team’s administrative staff on the South Lawn.
Another photo from Wednesday that was released by the team paints a different portrait from the Times’s portrayal:
Thanks @realDonaldTrump & @WhiteHouse for the gracious hospitality today honoring the Super Bowl Champion New England #Patriots! pic.twitter.com/7AU8XsA5Xk
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 20, 2017
James also told the Globe that attempting to compare the 2015 and 2017 turnout-number of players visiting the White House following Super Bowl victories is “wrong.”
“When you win two [Super Bowls] in three years, fewer people go than one in 10 years,” he said, referring to the fact that player turnout decreased for the White House ceremonies between 2002 and 2005.
Longtime Globe sports scribe Dan Shaughnessy noted in his Thursday column that team attendance at the White House has never been an issue — until now.
“The Patriots had 36 players visit President George W. Bush in 2004 and 27 players after they won in 2005,” he wrote. “Nobody kept track much back then. Or cared.”
The Patriots’ urgency to set the Times straight was also likely spurred by team owner Robert Kraft’s personal friendship with Trump. Kraft, who defended Trump at times during the Manhattan real estate mogul’s presidential campaign, drew a connection during his remarks Wednesday between the team’s miraculous Super Bowl comeback versus the Atlanta Falcons and Trump’s upset victory over heavily favored Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
“This year’s championship was achieved after falling behind by 25 points,” said Kraft. “In that same year, a very good friend of mine for over twenty-five years, a man who is mentally tough and hard-working as anyone I know, launched a campaign for the presidency against 16 career politicians facing odds almost as long as we faced.”
One notable absence on Wednesday was star quarterback Tom Brady, who indicated he had to skip out on the White House visit due to family matters. According to the Boston Herald, Brady spent Wednesday with his mother, who has been dealing with an undisclosed illness for at least the past year, and happened to be in Boston. Brady, however, did not attend President Barack Obama’s ceremony honoring the team’s championship in 2015.
Trump, however, never once mentioned Brady in his remarks.
Said Trump about the franchise ever since Kraft purchased them in 1994:
“No team has been this good for this long.”
Trump also appeared to relish the team’s Super Bowl comeback.
“With your backs against the wall and the pundits — the good ‘ole pundits, boy they’re wrong a lot, aren’t they? — saying you couldn’t do it, that the game was over, you pulled off the greatest Super Bowl comeback of all time,” he said.
On Thursday morning Trump took to Twitter to offer his take on the Times’ coverage:
Failing @nytimes, which has been calling me wrong for two years, just got caught in a big lie concerning New England Patriots visit to W.H.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2017
Watch Trump welcome the Patriots to the White House: