Three players of the 1972 Miami Dolphins refused to meet with President Obama

Four decades later in 2013, the team was invited by President Barack Obama to visit the White House. This occurred on August 20, where Obama noted that the team "never got their White House visit".

As to why this team had not been invited by President Richard Nixon in 1973, Larry Csonka stated that he did not feel neglected as it had not been a regular occurrence at the time. However, MSNBC reported that this was a deliberate snub by Nixon who was a Redskins fan.

Obama had previously invited the '85 Bears to the White House, as their visit had gotten cancelled due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. President Obama, a Chicago native and Bears fan, had called them the greatest team ever, but during the Dolphins' visit he called his own words into question, also noting that the only loss the '85 Bears had was to the Dolphins.

Bob Kuechenberg, Jim Langer, and Manny Fernandez all refused to attend due to political differences with the Obama administration.




[link to en.wikipedia.org]