Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots footballer Rob Gronkowski made his presence felt at the White House when he interrupted Sean Spicer’s press briefing and asked him if he “needed a hand.”
The famously gregarious footballer was at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on Wednesday for the customary visit to celebrate his team winning the Super Bowl over the Atlanta Falcons in February.
As Spicer was addressing the assembled press, the tight end stuck his head into the briefing room and offered to help him out.
The press secretary seemed somewhat startled by the unexpected interruption, but quickly recovered his bearings and reassured “Gronk” that he could handle the situation himself.
“That was cool,” Spicer said, laughing, after Gronkowski left the room.
Several Patriots players kept to their vows to skip the White House ceremony in protest at Donald Trump’s presidency.
LeGarrette Blount, Chris Long, Alan Branch, Dont’a Hightower, Martellus Bennett and Devin McCourty all previously said they would not go to the ceremony. Five of the men cited political reasons for not attending the White House ceremony, while Hightower, who had previously visited with a championship winning Alabama college football team, said: “Been there, done that.”
Superstar quarterback Tom Brady, a noted Trump supporter, also missed the event, but he reportedly pulled out on Wednesday morning due to "personal family matters.”
The visit came the same day that former Patriot Aaron Hernandez killed himself in prison, where he was serving a life sentence for murder. Wide receiver Danny Amendola also skipped the visit, thanking Trump “for the shout out” and saying he had a funeral to attend.
READ MORE: Ex-NFL player & convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez kills himself in prison