President Obama will honor the Super Bowl-winning 1985 Bears at the White House today, and one player, Dan Hampton, has said he doesn’t like Obama and won’t attend.
That doesn’t sit well with some of Hampton’s teammates.
Tim Wrightman, who played tight end on the 1985 Bears, posted a message on Facebook saying that being honored at the White House is an opportunity he would never pass up, even though he writes, “Out of all the players from the ’85 Bears arriving on October 7th I would probably say I am the most conservative.”
Unlike Hampton, Wrightman believes that political differences can be put aside for an occasion like this.
“This is the Bears’ once in a lifetime opportunity that has been given a second chance,” Wrightman wrote. “Some people don’t realize our initial trip in 1986 was cancelled because of the Challenger space shuttle accident. I think it was a classy thing for Obama to right the misfortune of our team. Besides, the White House is not President Obama’s house it’s the people’s house.”
Wrightman also took a shot at Hampton complaining that his wife wasn’t invited to the White House ceremony, asking Hampton, “would you take the wife you had when we won or the newest one?”
Another teammate, Steve McMichael, also questioned Hampton’s decision.
“I don’t care who the president is,” McMichael said. “I don’t care what’s going on in the government, if I’m against a war or what. If you are somebody that the White House wants to honor, and you’re a citizen of this country, it behooves you to show up and look at it like an honor and a privilege. I told them I’m going to have bells on.”
Last year, when Hampton had to issue an apology for some thoughtless remarks he made on TV, he began his apology by saying, “I’m an idiot.” It appears that some of his teammates agree.