Pro-tip for pro-athletes. If you win the championship, it's courageous and patriotic to skip the White House visit. Unless you were invited by a liberal Democratic POTUS. Then, you’re selfish and rude and, if you previously had a “boy-next-door image,” you’ve trashed it.

Such was the outrage from ESPN’s Joe McDonald back in 2012 when NHL champion Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas skipped the photo-op with President Obama.

“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People,” Thomas explained on Facebook.

Not good enough for McDonald. “In earlier posts on his Facebook page,” McDonald wrote, “Thomas writes about the Bruins' recent shootout victory in Philadelphia on Sunday, calling it "a big TEAM" win … That sentiment was missing in Thomas's decision not to go to the White House.”

And worst of all, Obama -- gracious, forgiving and saintly as ever -- said nice things about Thomas in his speech. The shame. ”Thomas’ absence was uncalled for. The president has more important things to worry about with Tuesday’s State of the Union address.”

And assumedly President Trump had more important things to do than greet the handful of Eagles players who didn’t back out of the team’s commitment to visit.

But ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith thinks it’s all part of Trump’s plan, or something. “Donald Trump has the NFL in the palm of his hands,” Smith said. “The fact that he has a constituency — the man got over 62 million votes. You got a lot of folks out there who are patrons of the NFL product. A matter of fact, some of the NFL owners are his friends. And make no mistake about it, the constituency they cater to, the patrons that they cater to, a lot of them were Trump voters. He knows it. He took the position that he took.”