If You're Upset With Brock Osweiler For Skipping The White House Visit Then It Might Be Time To Find A Hobby

LBS- While his former Denver Broncos teammates were visiting the White House on Monday, Brock Osweiler was defending his decision to skip the trip.

Osweiler elected not to go to the White House and stay with the Texans for OTAs instead, and he held firm on his decision Monday, saying he’d have liked to go and would have made the trip if not for the scheduled practice.

“If there was no OTA today, I would have gone to the White House,” Osweiler told reporters Monday, via Conor Orr of NFL Media. “It would have been a tremendous experience.

“I believe that every single practice, every single rep, every single meeting I can get in this new offense is the most important thing for myself and my teammates right now.”




​Let's put aside the fact that Brock Osweiler skipped the White House visit to do his job for a second. What if he didn't have a valid reason for his absence? What if he was hungover? What if he had a NetFlix show to catch up on? What if he just didn't fucking feel like going? I genuinely don't understand why it would make a difference to people whether or not an accomplished athlete chooses to accept an invite to the White House when receiving said invite is NOT an honor. 

This isn't a knock on Barack Obama or the prestige of the Presidency (though that could very well change within the calendar year). Brock Osweiler was one of fifty three men - and however many coaches - that happened to be a part of a football team that won the Super Bowl. A football team that - like every single Super Bowl winning team before them - was granted said visit to the White House. Barack Obama didn't wake up and say "Gee, I would really love to give Brock Osweiler a tour of the place on June 6th". He is required to do so because it's part of his job description. To say it is an honor to get to visit the White House implies that it was a conscious decision that was made when it very clearly wasn't. Brock Osweiler getting an invite to the White House was like a kid getting a valentine from the cute girl in class when the cute girl - as well as everyone else - is obligated to give valentines to everyone so no feelings get hurt. It just doesn't mean all goddamn much. This country hardly even likes it's President half the time, but we are going to act like a football player turning down a chance to meet him is some huge sign of disrespect? How about we worry about scraping off every disparaging/semi-racist bumper sticker South of the Mason Dixon line that's directed at the President before we worry about Brock Osweiler's reasons for respectfully declining his complimentary offer?

Would I personally accept the invite if I were him? Probably. It is a pretty cool thing to do with the your teammates after becoming a part of history with them. Am I going to act like it's a smack in the face to Barack Obama and the United States government that Brock Osweiler said "thanks but no thanks" so that he could show the team that decided to pay him EIGHTEEN MILLION DOLLARS a year just how dedicated he is to making sure that was a worthwhile investment? Hell no.