Three ’72 Dolphins skip White House visit for political reasons

[RockaFowler]

As a Dolphins fan, I am kind of disgusted by this. This is to celebrate the TEAM, not who they voted for in the last election.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/20/three-72-dolphins-skip-white-house-visit-for-political-reasons/

Former Dolphins guard Bob Kuechenberg, center Jim Langer and defensive tackle Manny Fernandez all told Dave Hyde of the Sun Sentinel that they don’t want to appear alongside a president whose policies they don’t support.

[warrior1]

1. fuck em

[TheDebbieDee]

2. Thank heavens, it's three guys I never heard of anyway!

WTF was Kuechenberg, Langer and Fernandez? They're just three NOBODIES trying to make a point!

[Jenoch]

36. Langer is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I know him because he played his last two seasons for the Vikings (I live in Minnesota.)

[TheDebbieDee]

59. He'll always be a Dolphins NOBODY in my book.......

[alp227]

67. Bob Kuechenberg = 6-time Pro Bowl selection,

and 3 All-Pro selections. Normally the O-line guys don't get as much buzz as the skill positions i.e. quarterbacks, wide receivers, defensive players.

[BeyondGeography]

3. Old joyless goofballs

Who cares about their little POV's? They're rejecting their team more than anything else.

[NCTraveler]

4. Don't mind at all. Well, maybe it is lacking a little class.

Freedom of expression is grand. Don't think I would be too upset if someone bailed on the shrub back in the day.

[NoPasaran]

5. Meh

Fuck 'em and feed 'em fish heads.

[Ninga]

6. Obviously, victims of traumatic brain injury...... nt

[dennis4868]

7. Many DUes would do the same thing...

[Zorra]

8. LOL! I'm sure the President and his family are absolutely devastated because some old weeshers

are not attending the party.

[BOG PERSON]

22. wow thats a really fucked up thing to say

[edhopper]

23. No football fan

has forgotten the only perfect team in NFL history.

They have stated that it would not be "fun" for them. They wish their other team mates well and have not denounced the event.

It's a nice honor, but not a big deal that a few aren't going.

[Skeeter Barnes]

27. There are some sick people posting here.

[Throd]

48. It would be better if they died soon?

[Hell Hath No Fury]

10. As is their right.

There was much discussion here during the Bush years about whether any DUers would make such a decision if asked to make an appearance at the WH with war criminal Bush. Many would not have gone -- I would have gone and protested him in person with a lovely stink palm.

[bigwillq]

11. Good for them.

They are free to go or not go for whatever reason.
I am sure some players didn't go when other presidents were in the White House.
I don't think it's that big of a deal that they're not going.
I hope everyone who chooses to go has a good time.

[Fawke Em]

12. I bet they don't even know his policies.

They probably think Obamacare is a government take-over of health care instead of a promise to proved insurance companies with more business.

They probably think Obama has spent more than any other president, when he's actually bringing down the deficit.

And, if they simply think Obama is too LGBT friendly, it just shows their age.

[narnian60]

56. +100

[edhopper]

13. Wouldn't we cheer

If it was GWB and some of the team did this because of Iraq?

The did not make any political statements against the President, just said they disagreed and didn't want to take part. In fact they emphasized that they didn't want to go into the reasons, other than their not supporting Obama. They didn't say they object to the ceremony, they just aren't taking part and wish the others well.

As a Dolphin fan who had season tickets that year, I am fine with this.

[BeyondGeography]

15. Except Obama hasn't done anything of the sort

Langer pretty much says the President lacks a moral compass...gay marriage, anyone? Or is it universal health care? Who knows.

Langer suggested that it would be phony for him to pretend he has something to celebrate in the White House, as long as Obama is occupying the White House.

“We’ve got some real moral compass issues in Washington,” Langer said. “I don’t want to be in a room with those people and pretend I’m having a good time. I can’t do that. If that [angers] people, so be it.”

You're a sports fan; I get it. We all root for people who can be total assholes in private life. We like/d them as professionals. The smarter athletes understand that and keep their personal views to themselves in professional situations.

[edhopper]

16. You see, they did keep it to themselves.

Said they didn't agree and left it at that. If they had used this situation to actually attack Obama on some policy, I would feel they would be wrong.
They aren't going, which is there right, and made non confrontational statements. Just that they would not be comfortable at the WH.

So I don't have a problem.

If it was over the NSA or lack of Wall Street prosecutions, would you be okay with that?

[BeyondGeography]

18. haha...you can always dream they are attacking him from the left, I guess

Here's what Langer said a year ago:

Langer said he was first asked informally about a year ago if he'd go to this White House.

"No, never," he said.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-08-17/sports/fl-dave-hyde-white-house-dolphins-0818-20130817_1_white-house-president-obama-bob-kuechenberg

So there goes the NSA angle, with him at least. Was he at Zucotti Park two years ago?

[edhopper]

21. You missunderstood

I was questioning if you would feel the same way if a player was doing the same thing, but because he objected to those things or another progressive reason?

I realize they are conservative, I just don't have a problem with how they are handling this.

[uponit7771]

26. Obama = Bush = bullshit thx

[edhopper]

30. Rights of people to make a choice

not limited to ones political leaning = not bullshit.

This is a non-event that they would rather not attend, and i don't think anybody here would have a problem with this if the Pres. Reagen or Bush I or Bush II. Or if it was a progressive doing it because of the NSA.

[uponit7771]

33. Bush Obama comparisons AUTOMATICALLY are bullshit, they are... the "we might as well

...vote for a republican" crowd is exactly what we see with Jimmy Carter and Clinton kind of attitude

[edhopper]

35. Not comparing Bush to Obama

Comparing a citizen's right to feel however that want about the President.

But I guess you think people can only dislike the same people as you.

[Motown_Johnny]

14. Three old white guys don't support our President? Unbelievable!

(Can't find a recent photo of Fernandez but he would be old by now)

[mick063]

17. Good for them

I think I would decline as well.

I wouldn't walk across the street to visit an entitlement reformer.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

19. I don't get this thinking.

I would think that if it's your team being honored at the White House, you'd go as a team for the sake of the team.

It is, after all, a great honor.

If say I was a member of a championship team during the Bush Administration, and we were invited to the White House, I'd still go. Despite me personally being sickened by the then-occupant of the White House.

I would avoid any one-on-one pictures with Bush and I would avoid having to shake his hand, if possible, but I'd go for the sake of the team.

They have a right not to go, and if they were going just to bitch and moan it's just as well they not go, but still. It's an honor for your team, not for you.

[SwankyXomb]

44. That's the thing that people like these three and the others

that have done similar things don't get: you're not being honored by this specific President, you're being honored by the United States of America, as embodied in the President. So why do these pro athletes hate America?

[spanone]

20. fuck 'em. they should un-invite them.

[Raine]

24. STUPID ... turning down a once in a lifetime opportunity that very few people in this country ever

get. The wrong people always get the chance that others would give anything to have.

[JI7]

25. why are they invited anyways ? is there something special about the 72 dolphins

i know nothing about sports so i could be missing the obvious .

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

28. Only undefeated team in modern NFL history

They never got a trip to the White House because they didn't do that then (and Nixon was a Redskins fan, who they beat in the Super Bowl that year).

[alp227]

68. But wasn't 1973 the year of Watergate? no time for fun at the White House? nt

[nil desperandum]

29. It all depends

on whether or not you are a big sports fan...it appears you are not. They are the only undefeated team in the history of the game. They won every regular season game, and every post season game including the super bowl...

Having said that, it's another example of worshipping all the wrong folks in our celebrity obsessed, fame obsessed, sports based pop culture....some genetically gifted meat heads get to play a child's game for a living and somehow I'm supposed to consider their opinions about anything as having more weight than the rest of our society....doesn't work so much for me....

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

34. Nobody asked for anyone's opinion

These 3 have felt the need to offer one while the rest of their teammates went and enjoyed an honor from the president.

I get awfully confused as to why people lash out at the entire organization for what one or two fools do. Same thing happened with the Tim Thomas/Boston Bruins White House visit. 20-some guys got bashed for one asshole not showing up.

[edhopper]

37. But they didn't offer an opinion

They just said they weren't comfortable going and kept it at that.
They will miss out on the ceremony, and that's about it.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

38. What was that bullshit about a "moral compass"? (n/m)

[BOG PERSON]

39. echoing comments made by harry belafonte?

[JI7]

43. i'm pretty sure belafonte would not turn down a visit

[BOG PERSON]

45. you presume he would even get invited?

i dont think he would

[JI7]

46. no, i'm saying if he was he would not turn it down

[BOG PERSON]

49. i guess we'll never know

[JI7]

50. well, one can ask him if he would turn it down if invited

and he can give a yes or no answer.

[davepc]

40. They didn't get invited in 1972 because Nixon was neck deep in Watergate

[KamaAina]

51. Apparently the WH tradition honoring champion teams hadn't started yet.

Also Nixon was a huge R*dsk*ns fan. Which explains a lot.

[Johonny]

55. It sounds like the current owner (a republican) worked hard to get the visit

Apparently he thought it was a nice thing for the wildly popular old players. All reports is the PR guys worked hard to try to convince the 3 to go to the meeting. After all if the Republican owner is willing to arrange and pay for the trip... it is hard to understand these players beef. It isn't totally unprecedented and these aren't the first players to decline a visit to the White.

Nixon is rumored to have "helped" Shula the year before

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--president-nixon-tried-to-help-dolphins-win-super-bowl-vi-225925413.html

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

31. 3 big Florida Republicans who loved Jebbie and Georgie

Fuck 'em.

[Jenoch]

32. Personally, even if I were a Dolphins fan,

I couldn't get too worked up over this because it happened over 40 years ago. Plus, I can't fault them because Nixon was in the White House.

[badtoworse]

41. Symptomatic of the level of political discourse in the country

We need to respect the other side's point of view even if we disagree with it and we need to respect the people who hold those views. In this respect, the left is just as bad.

[alp227]

69. Not very realistic expectation in the Tea Party era.

Could've been better said back when those players who snubbed the WH were in their football uniforms. Hell, Nixon was pretty damn liberal for a Republican president anyway, and even George H.W. Bush was willing to raise taxes and sign the Clean Air Act while in office. Compared to the current crop of Boehner/Cantor/Gohmert/McConnell/Ryan "oppose everything Obama does (even if Bush did the same)" Republicans in congress.

[Rex]

42. Chance to get your picture with the POTUS or you can be a sour pickle.

Hmmmm...easy choice for me.

[trumad]

47. Life long Phin fan...

Attended every home game during their perfect season.

I love that team and Don Shula. A big part of my life back then.

Am I disappointed that the 3 did not attend. Yeah---I admit I am.

But so what...the rest of the remaining players were there including Shula and his coaching staff---I they love the honor.

Go Phins

[lpbk2713]

52. They have an overinflated assessment of their own importance.

It's not like anyone really gives a rat's ass what they think.

[DinahMoeHum]

53. F them, it's their loss, not their teammates'

n/t

[Cha]

54. These are the guys who have no Problem being honored in the White House by PBO..

"Washington (CNN) – Four decades after they became the only NFL team so far to cap a perfect season with a Super Bowl win, the 1972 Miami Dolphins headed to the White House for a public honor from President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

"I know this is a little bit unorthodox four decades after the fact, but these guys never got their White House visit after winning Super Bowl VII," Obama said in the East Room. "Some of them are a little harder to recognize these days. They don't have the afros, the mutton chops, the fu manchus."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/20/after-push-from-player-undefeated-72-dolphins-to-receive-white-house-honor/?hpt=hp_bn3

[BeyondGeography]

57. What a great team, and there will never be a cooler RB name than Mercury Morris

Great photo/perfect quote from the Prez.

[Cha]

62. Here's another couple a pics..

President Barack Obama jokes with members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, including offensive guard Larry Little (L), and quarterback Bob Griese

http://theobamadiary.com/

[BeyondGeography]

65. Shula looks so thrilled

Nothing much better than seeing an old guy put a lifetime into a smile like that.

[Cha]

66. I hear ya!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

58. Csonk!!!!

Sad to see Coach Shula in a wheelchair.

[Cha]

61. Here's another pic.. :)

http://theobamadiary.com/

[JI7]

60. such a nice picture

[Cha]

64. Here's some more.. :)

President Barack Obama jokes with members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, including offensive guard Larry Little (L), and quarterback Bob Griese

http://theobamadiary.com/

[RedCappedBandit]

63. I wouldn't have wanted to appear alongside Bush

Can't blame 'em for not wanting to meet a president they don't like. Their own political leanings are probably nonsense, though.