Jill Biden won’t even let a White House gala come between him and the Philadelphia Eagles.
After entertaining governors late at night with President Joe Biden at a black-tie dinner on Saturday, the first lady is heading to Arizona on Sunday for the Super Bowl with hopes that “The Birds” beat the Kansas City Chiefs and claim the NFL title. ,
First ladies have been associated with sports in many ways over the years, from throwing out the first pitch at baseball games to representing the United States in the Olympics. But Jill Biden’s public expression of support for Philadelphia’s teams — she grew up in suburban Willow Grove — is a rare kind of devotion.
“The first lady is a proud Philly girl and devoted sports fan, and is excited to be cheering on her hometown team for the Super Bowl,” said her spokeswoman, Vanessa Valdivia.
At a time when national politicians often avoid taking sides in sporting events, Jill Biden, a community college professor, publicly wears her Eagles and Phillies apparel and tweets photos of herself watching the game in a private cabin on a government plane.
He and his grandson, Hunter, were at the stadium in Philadelphia on January 29 when the Eagles won the NFC Championship. The 16-year-old will join him again on Sunday.
“I’m leaving. I’ll welcome you to the game,” the first lady was heard telling two girls about the Super Bowl when she visited California last weekend.
No current president has attended the Super Bowl, mainly because of the strict security requirements officials would need to impose on thousands of fans. President Biden will be at the White House on Sunday.
Tammy Vigil, a communications professor at Boston University, said first ladies are not typically viewed as open sports fans because there are not many of them, even though they often participate in formal aspects of some sports. He said the timing could also be a factor for Jill Biden.
“Their team is very successful when it comes to occupying the White House,” Vigil, author of “Melanie and Michelle,” a book about the first ladies, said in an email.
Biden uses her interest in sports to highlight one of the causes she promotes as first lady: cancer awareness. She has appeared at Eagles and Phillies home games, including the World Series, in recent months to cheer on patients and promote the league’s efforts to promote early detection.
According to the National First Ladies Library, there is a long history of first ladies and their involvement with sports, especially baseball. And for some, their interest continued or even deepened, after they left the White House.
Grace Coolidge enjoyed baseball more than President Calvin Coolidge. “He didn’t share my enthusiasm for baseball,” he once said. Within months of becoming first lady, she appeared at a game for the first time, bringing the president to a World Series game in 1924 between the New York Giants and the Washington Senators.
After leaving the White House, Grace Coolidge became a regular at Boston’s Fenway Park, rooting for the Red Sox from a reserved seat just above their dugout.
Bess Truman accompanied President Harry Truman to the opening day of Washington Senators games, but also went alone or with her daughter and friends. When Truman returned to Missouri after his presidency, he split his loyalties between the Kansas City Athletics (and later, the Kansas City Royals) and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Pat Nixon was the first woman to throw out the ceremonial first pitch for a major league team, doing so in the second game of the 1971 World Series in Baltimore. For a while, she would watch a football game on the weekend.
Nixon said in a 1971 television interview, “However, once upon a time, I followed the teams and then, of course, I would not miss a game.”
Nancy Reagan threw out the first pitch before the first game of the 1988 World Series, using the opportunity to promote one of her causes, the “Just Say No” anti-drug program.
Barbara Bush became the first first lady to throw out a ceremonial pitch for a Texas Rangers game in May 1989. She would later attend Rangers games after her son, future President George W. Bush, became the team’s managing general partner.
Hillary Clinton throws out the ceremonial first pitch for the Chicago Cubs, her hometown team, at Wrigley Field in April 1994.
Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, then the second lady of the United States, made a joint appearance at Yankee Stadium at the 2009 World Series for their Joining Forces military initiative. In 2010, Mrs. Obama threw out the first pitch at an Orioles game in Baltimore.
While President Biden has opened the White House to celebrate Olympians and championship sports teams, including those who turned down his predecessor’s invitation, Biden has yet to attend a sporting event, including the annual Legion – Includes Navy football game.
He leaves his wife to assume the role of White House sports ambassador. She led the US delegation to the delayed Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, and she and Doug Emhoff, the vice president’s husband, had beers in the stands at Minute Maid Park after attending a COVID-19 vaccination clinic sponsored by the Houston Astros Took a sip ,
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said he is pleased that many Philadelphia fans, including the first lady, will fill Arizona’s State Farm Stadium with Eagles chants on Sunday.
“We are very proud that he is a part of our diverse, passionate Eagles fan base,” Kenney said in a statement.
President Biden says he’s a Philadelphia sports fan, too, out of necessity, and often jokes that “I’d be sleeping alone” otherwise.
But in a 2011 interview with a Wisconsin radio station when he was vice president, Biden swore allegiance to the Green Bay Packers.
Biden told WTMJ that the Norbertines, an order of priests at the Catholic school in Claymont, Delaware, had their abbey house in De Pere, Wisconsin. On Sunday when the Packers won, the headmaster, Father Justin E. Denny announces that the last period has been canceled.
“He made all of us Packers fans, so it’s a sentimental place for me,” Biden said. “Besides, I’m afraid I’ll go to hell if I don’t root for the Packers. Father Dini may come back. I can’t hold against Father Dini. He’ll come out of his grave if he knows That I’m rooting for someone else.