Sixth New England Patriot announces he will skip White House visit

Sixth New England Patriot announces he will skip White House visit

BY PAULINA FIROZI

A sixth player from the New England Patriots has announced that he will be skipping the trip to President Trump’s White House in the traditional visit following the team's historic Super Bowl victory.

Defensive lineman Alan Branch joins five of his teammates who have said they would not make the trip to the White House.

Branch did not specifically mention Trump in his decision, but said in an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio this week that he would stay home with his family instead.

“I’ve got four kids at home so I’m just going to hang out with the family and continue celebrating until the next season starts,” he said.

Branch attended President Obama's White House celebration with the Patriots for the 2014 Super Bowl win, SportingNews reported. He joins a growing number of his teammates who have made the decision not to meet with the president to celebrate the team's win, despite the fact that Patriots owner Robert Kraft, team coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady are friends with Trump.

Of the five other Patriots players who have announced their plans, some specifically referred to a protest of the president.

“I don’t support the guy that’s in the house,” said tight end Marcellus Bennett, the first to back out of the White House trip.

Running back LaGarrette Blount, defensive end Chris Long, linebacker Dont’a Hightower, and defensive back Devin McCourty have also announced that they do not plan to attend.