FSU Football Should Get Presidential Honor For 2013 Title

FSU football didn’t get a White House visit following their national title in 2013 – something that should be fixed with either the current or past leader.

In the weeks that followed FSU football‘s 2013 national championship – one that came after a season of domination and an epic title game comeback over Auburn – the Seminoles waited for that phone call that never came…the one inviting head coach Jimbo Fisher and his team to the White House for a ceremony with then President Barack Obama.

The reasons surrounding that snub stood, largely, at the feet of the team’s Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Jameis Winston. Although being cleared by the legal system of any wrong doing against sexual assault charges brought against him by a former FSU student, Winston still hasn’t been cleared in the court of public opinion from some even over three years later.

Florida State Seminoles Football

Many thought that Obama didn’t want to associate with a player who, at the time, might have been one of the most toxic people in sports – whether it was fair or not. As the months went on, the excuse became that plans couldn’t be worked out between the White House and the Seminoles. With that, FSU football stands as the only team in recent years who hasn’t gotten the honor.

That needs to change.

I’m not going to get political with who it should be done by. At this point, it doesn’t have to be a White House visit with current President Donald Trump – it could be when either Trump or Obama comes to the state of Florida for an event and the Seminoles can get as many players and coaches together for an event.

The fact of the matter is that this is a tradition that has been done for much of the last three decades – and the Seminoles are one of a handful of teams who hasn’t gotten the honor. It’s not fair to players like Devonta Freeman, Lamarcus Joyner, Timmy Jernigan, Nick O’Leary and the rest of the players who were a part of one of the best college football teams in the last quarter century.

There is a precedent for this and it wasn’t all that long ago. In 2012, Obama welcomed the 1972 Miami Dolphins team to the White House to honor them for the famous (and way overplayed) undefeated season. While visits weren’t the norm when they won, it goes to show that teams can get that honor even well after the game is over.

Related Story: Top FSU Football Wins Under Jimbo Fisher

Watching the three teams who have won since FSU football – Ohio State, Alabama and most recently Clemson – get their day of honor with the Commander in Chief. This is an issue that shouldn’t matter whether you are a Democrat or Republican or neither – if you are a fan of the Seminoles, you should want that special team to get the same moment in the sun.