Chris Long Says He Won't Visit White House to Honor Super Bowl 51 Win

New England Patriots defensive lineman Chris Long announced Thursday he won't visit the White House when President Donald Trump welcomes the organization to celebrate their Super Bowl 51 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Long made his decision public in response to an article by Chuck Modiano of the New York Daily News urging the veteran defender to skip the White House ceremony. He posted a message on social media stating he never planned on going anyway.

"Planned on skipping, hadn't been asked," Long wrote on Twitter. "Don't need an open letter explaining my own words to me. Not *joining* anyone. My call."

"Anyone who knows my son Chris knows he is about more than football," Long's father, Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long, said Friday on Sirius XM NFL Radio. "He makes his own decisions."

The 31-year-old California native becomes the sixth Patriots player to confirm they won't be there when the team visits 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Dont'a Hightower previously joined Martellus Bennett and Devin McCourty in making that declaration, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss (via Sports Illustrated), while LeGarrette Blount and Alan Branch have also elected not to attend, per Victor Mather of the New York Times.

Modiano argued it was important for Long to make his stance clear because he was one of the few white athletes to take a public stand for Colin Kaepernick during his protest of the national anthem, a polarizing act by the San Francisco 49ers quarterback that drew national attention.

Reiss relayed comments the University of Virginia product made in September about the Kaepernick situation on ESPN Radio's Russillo and Kanell show. While he made it clear he'd never kneel for the anthem, he expressed the importance of taking the concerns of those who did seriously.

"I play in a league that's 70 percent black and my peers, guys I come to work with, guys I respect who are very socially aware and are intellectual guys, if they identify something that they think is worth putting their reputations on the line, creating controversy, I'm going to listen to those guys," Long said.

He added: "But I'll make it pretty clear: I support my peers in exercising their right to protest. This is a wonderful country, and I think everyone agrees on that, but there are things in our country that can improve. I don't think that by acknowledging as a white male that America isn't the same for me, maybe, as it is for everybody, the same great place, that we're complicit in the problem or that we're saying America isn't a great place."

Meanwhile, President Trump posted a message on social media after the Patriots' stunning comeback win to congratulate team owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady:

Skipping the White House visit is not a new phenomenon. In 2013, CNN provided a look at some of the other athletes who made the same decision during prior presidential administrations, including marquee names like NBA legend Michael Jordan and MLB All-Star Manny Ramirez.