Reid Fischer's World of Rants

So apparently James Harrison will not be accompanying his Steelers’ teammates to the White House.  For those unfamiliar, it has long been tradition for championship teams in all the major sports to receive an invitation to be honored by the president.  I think it goes without saying that this should be a big honor.  I don’t care if you like the president or not, the opportunity to simply be on the grounds of the White House, let al0ne get to shake hands with the president, is not something that the average person gets to experience.  I think for any player to turnthis chance down is needless to say a dumb decision.  For the record, my favorite player of all-time is John Elway, and I still call him out on his skipping out on the White House visits after the Broncos’ championships in the late 90s.  I think this is a very selfish and confusing decision by Harrison, but maybe that’s just me. 

In the case of Harrison, it is most perplexing for him to say that Arizona would have been invited had the Cardinals defeated the Steelers.  OF COURSE THEY WOULD HAVE!  THAT’S THE ENTIRE POINT!!!   The president invites the champion, regardless of who that team is.  What, did Harrison expect President Obama to single out the Steelers no matter what?  It seems that Mr. Harrison is insulted that the Steelers are only being invited because they are the Super Bowl champions.  The whole thing is very perplexing to say the least.

I want to know what you guys think on this one.  Is Harrison justified in turning down the invite to the White House?  Is he insulting his teammates by not joining them there?  Is he insulting the president?   Or, is this really not that big a deal?