NFL
Kansas City Chiefs visit the White House: what did Biden say to Super Bowl champions?
Although they have won four Super Bowls, this is only the second time that the Kansas City Chiefs have been honoured at the White House.
Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs visited the White House on Friday, continuing an annual tradition that began when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Los Angeles Rams to lift the NFL title in the 1979 season.
This is the second consecutive year that US president Joe Biden has hosted the Chiefs: February’s victory over the San Francisco 49ers saw the Missouri franchise become the first NFL team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since the New England Patriots in 2004.
Chiefs gift Biden helmet
During Friday’s ceremony at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the Chiefs presented Biden with a commemorative Kansas City helmet, which the president duly tried for size.
Although they have won four Super Bowls in their history, this is only the second time that the Chiefs have been honoured at the White House. Their first NFL title came back in 1969, before the tradition had been established, and the second was in 2020, during the season affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden: Chiefs “stepped up” amid parade shooting “chaos”
Speaking during the Chiefs’ visit, Biden praised the response of the players and the team’s head coach, Andy Reid, to the shooting that marred the franchise’s Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City in February.
“I’ll never forget: I watched on Marine One when I was landing on the South Lawn coming back from overseas to the White House,” Biden said. “Just then, Kansas City was celebrating your incredible win. We saw pride - pride given away to tragedy.”
“Amid the chaos, this team stepped up again. Trey [Smith] helped pull people to safety. James [Winchester], who lost his own father to gun violence, reassured kids they’d be OK.
“When one boy was separated from his dad, Clyde [Edwards-Helaire] helped keep him from harm. The boy’s dad later said, ‘You can be an athlete for only so long, but you can be a great human being for the rest of your life.’ Clyde is exceptional.” Biden added: “One teen remembers Coach Reid giving him a hug, telling him, ‘Just breathe. Just breathe.’”
Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a DJ for local radio station KKFI, died in the shooting, while 22 others were wounded.