New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski butted into the White House daily press briefing with Sean Spicer on Wednesday, proving once again he likes to ham it up for the cameras.
As Spicer was in the middle of a serious conversation with the White House press corps about Trump’s decision to direct an interagency review of the Iran nuclear deal, Gronkowski, known to fans simply as “Gronk,” stuck his head out from behind a curtain at the front of the room.
“Need some help?” Gronk asked Spicer.
“I think I got this, but thank you … maybe,” Spicer replied.
“I like you,” Gronk told Spicer.
“All right, thanks man, I’ll see you in a minute,” Spicer said, turning a visible red.
After taking a moment to crack a rare smile, Spicer, who is from New England, gave a shrug before carrying on with the briefing.
“All right … that was cool,” he says as the press corps and Spicer all let out a laugh.
The Patriots were at the White House on Wednesday to celebrate their Super Bowl LI win over the Atlanta Falcons with President Donald Trump.
He got his start playing for the Patriots back in 2010, drafted alongside fellow tight end Aaron Hernandez. On Wednesday morning, Hernandez was found dead of apparent suicide in his cell at a maximum-security prison in Massachusetts. Hernandez was serving life in prison for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd.
While all the Patriots players were invited to the White House ceremony Wednesday, some players chose to skip the visit for different reasons.
Super Bowl MVP quarterback Tom Brady, who is friends with Trump, was notably not in attendance. He announced Wednesday morning that he would miss it because of “personal family matters.” Brady’s mother has been battling an illness for months.
Other Patriots players decided not to go for more political reasons. Chris Long, LeGarrette Blount, Alan Branch, Martellus Bennett, Devin McCourty and Dont’a Hightower all said they would miss it as a protest against the president.
“I just don’t feel welcome in that house, I’m going to just leave it at that,” running back Blount told Rich Eisen of the NFL Network in February.
