There was never a chance we were going to get to the Super Bowl kickoff without the subject of visiting the White House coming up, and that's exactly what happened Thursday when the San Francisco Chronicleasked Richard Sherman about that hypothetical.
The Chronicle's Scott Ostler said that even though it's "way too early to start talking about a White House visit or a possible boycott of same by the 49ers," he still asked Sherman whether he'd take the trip if San Francisco beats the Chiefs next Sunday.
"I haven’t thought about it. We’ve got a long way between now and then, but I doubt it," Sherman said in a manner that makes it sound like he doesn't want to appear like he's looking past the Chiefs.
The White House visit, which has historically been a boring event, is still a boring event, but it has also become especially politically charged (akin to say ... sports media coverage) since Trump was elected. On that note, Bleacher Report writes:
Previous teams/players to boycott the visit in recent years include Chris Long, Mookie Betts, Torrey Smith, Alex Cora, and the Golden State Warriors. Others that haven't visited the White House include the Philadelphia Eagles and the Virginia Men's Basketball Team.
The New England Patriots, the Washington Capitals, Clemson's football team, Tiger Woods, NASCAR's Joey Logano, and most recently LSU's football team, all made the trip to Washington.
Anyway, for this most recent development, the Chiefs could just win and then it'll be Pat Mahomes and Andy Reid having to field these questions.