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  • April 23, 2015

WASHINGTON -- The New England Patriots were honored by Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday afternoon, with the president calling them "as good an organization as there is in professional sports." Obama's remarks, which lasted about nine minutes on the South Lawn, included plenty of humor, such as Deflategate jabs. He said that he usually likes to joke at these types of ceremonies but worried that "11 out of 12 might fall flat" with the Patriots. He then looked back at head coach Bill Belichick, who smiled and gave him a thumbs-down signal. That's when Obama said, "That whole story got blown a little out of proportion." After the ceremony, Belichick raved about the experience with reporters, saying he couldn't have felt more patriotic. When asked about Obama's joke, he called him a "pretty engaging guy." Obama had also joked in his remarks that it was nice to see Belichick dressed up and offered him scissors if he wanted to cut the sleeves on his suit. He also...

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