Tom Brady is skipping the Patriots' White House visit due to 'personal family matters'
Tom Brady will not join the New England Patriots at the White House on Wednesday due to "personal family matters."
After beating the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51, the Patriots are the first professional sports team scheduled to visit President Donald Trump's White House.
Several players, including former tight end Martellus Bennett and safety Devin McCourty, have said they wouldn't make the trip for political reasons.
Brady, who has a personal relationship with Trump, released a statement on Wednesday explaining his absence.
Brady also missed the Patriots' trip to the White House in 2013 under then-President Barack Obama. Brady recently told MMQB's Peter King that he missed that trip due to a scheduling conflict.
"There's certain years, like a couple years ago, I wanted to go and didn't get the opportunity based on the schedule. We didn't get told until I think like 10 days before we were going, and at that point I had something I'd been planning for months and couldn't get there."
It's unclear how many players will be missing the visit, due to political or personal reasons, but from the sounds of it, the Patriots will be without some of their more popular players at the White House.