The Patriots have six championships since 2002 and they have visited the White House every time they’ve won a title. This year may be different. As postulated by ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the Patriots’ offseason schedule may not make it possible for the team to visit President Trump this year. Here’s what Reiss had to say in his most recent piece:

“After the Patriots won their first five Super Bowls, they visited the White House on the following dates:

April 2, 2002

May 10, 2004

April 13, 2005

April 23, 2015

April 19, 2017

The club hasn’t visited this year, and now that April and May have passed, it makes a sixth visit more of a logistical challenge, in part because players and coaches are taking final vacations before the start of training camp.”

This could be a good thing. Some of the Patriots players already met with president Trump two years ago. There’s no need for them to go back. They’ve already experienced the entire pomp and circumstance, and if you remember, the pictures and reaction it wasn’t great:

UPDATE: Patriots say # of players was smaller this year than 2015 (34 vs. 50) but total delegation was roughly the same. pic.twitter.com/Ij77Def8z5 — NYT Sports (@NYTSports) April 20, 2017

Failing @nytimes, which has been calling me wrong for two years, just got caught in a big lie concerning New England Patriots visit to W.H. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2017

This isn’t a political statement. It’s not because the president doesn’t want the Patriots to come or the team decided to take some stand. It’s mostly like just how the calendar worked out.

It also allows the NFL and the Patriots to stay out of the political fray. They won’t get any backlash because they simply can’t make it due to scheduling reasons. After the president’s battles with the NFL in the past over players kneeling during the national anthem, it’s probably better that way.