For the third time in his presidency, Barack Obama welcomed the Alabama Crimson Tide football team to the White House for a congratulatory visit.
“Since I’ll be around for four more football seasons, I suspect I’ll be seeing these guys again,” Pres. Obama quipped at Monday’s ceremony.
Champions from every major sport visiting the White House is a custom dating back to Andrew Johnson’s invitation to a delegation of the National Base Ball Club in 1865, per Baseball Almanac.
Alabama is becoming such a frequent guest, a wing in the White House named for head coach Nick Saban might be the next logical step. Saban presented Pres. Obama with a No. 15 jersey, signifying the program’s number of claimed national championships. The coach added that Obama “now has a full uniform.”
“A Notre Dame fan asked, ‘Is Roll Tide a noun or a verb?'” Obama said. “To which a fan clad head-to-toe in crimson said, ‘It’s a way of life.'”
Obama dropped his own “Roll Tide” in conclusion.