Super Bowl champion Chiefs to visit White House on June 5
The Kansas City Chiefs will celebrate their third Super Bowl championship with their first visit to the White House.
The team announced Monday they will celebrate their title with President Joe Biden on June 5.
On Monday, June 5, President Biden will welcome us to the White House to celebrate our championship season and victory in Super Bowl LVII.
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) May 10, 2023
You can probably expect some gentle ribbing from Biden, who is a known Eagles fan. He at least praised the Chiefs after their 38-35 win over Philadelphia.
Congrats to the Kansas City Chiefs on their Super Bowl win and to MVP @PatrickMahomes on leading the team to victory. Through injury and obstacles, you showed grit and true resilience.
Looking forward to having you at the White House.— President Biden (@POTUS) February 13, 2023
The news comes shortly after it was reported the Georgia football team, this year's College Football Playoff champions, would not be visiting the White House due to scheduling difficulties.
Why is this the Chiefs' first Super Bowl trip?
This will be the first time the Chiefs have ever made the trip to the White House, as the practice wasn't a tradition when they won their first championship in 1969 and the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the trip in 2020.
The first Super Bowl champion to visit the White House was the 1985 Pittsburgh Steelers, who traveled to Washington D.C. alongside their fellow World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates. The trip later became a regular perk during the presidency of Ronald Reagan.
Len Dawson, the quarterback of that 1969 Chiefs team, at least received a phone call from Richard Nixon.
Half a century later, the Chiefs were on track to meet then-President Donald Trump in 2020 (some of them, at least), but the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to those plans and many more. Only one Super Bowl champion has visited the White House since 2017: the 2021 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Last year's Los Angeles Rams never made the trip, nor did the 2018 Philadelphia Eagles, nor the 2019 New England Patriots.