The University of Georgia football team has decided to skip out on the traditional White House visit after securing its second national championship.
On Tuesday, the team announced they’d be sitting out this year’s visit. Though there was some criticism, the Bulldogs shared that the tour came at the wrong time. The White House extended the invitation for June 12th after Georgia leaders requested President Joe Biden host the UGA football team after their January win over TCU. He obliged for the week before Summer break, a crucial time for the players and coaches. Therefore, the team will miss out once again. A rep for UGA expressed the team’s gratitude for the meeting and hoped for other opportunities int he future.
Unfortunately, this would be the team’s second time missing out on the White House tour. Last year after their championship win, there was no invitation due to COVID-19 precautions being in place. With the team declining the White House’s invite, many believed it was a politically motivated move. However, Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart maintained this is not the case. A football camp is also taking place at the campus during the same timeframe, with about 700 players coming out.
“You’ve got 600 to 700 kids coming to your campus. You can’t leave to go to the White House and have no one on your campus,” Smart explained before calling the White House visit “a great experience.”
