Patriots' White House visit has Obama's deflate-gate joke, no Tom Brady

Tom Brady wasn't around to hear President Barack Obama's deflate-gate joke during the New England Patriots' visit to the White House.

The customary trip to the White House for the NFL champions came on Thursday. Brady, the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback, didn't go because of what was described as a "prior family commitment," according to CSNNE.

The Patriots beat the Seahawks in one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever. It was also a Super Bowl that became known for the controversy in the lead-up to the game, the "deflate-gate" issue after a reported 11 of 12 Patriots' game balls were found to be under-inflated. That issue (which the NFL is still investigating ... yes, it hasn't wrapped up yet) infuriated the Patriots before the Super Bowl, but it didn't stop Obama from making a joke about it.

"I usually tell a bunch of jokes at these events, but with the Patriots in town I was worried that 11 out of 12 of them would fall flat," Obama said to uncomfortable laughter and groans from the Patriots players and coaches behind him.

Obama followed that up by giving the Patriots credit for keeping focus during the "biggest media circus of the sports year."

Obama had other jokes. He joked that he told tight end Rob Gronkowski to keep his shirt on during the ceremony. He joked about coach Bill Belichick wearing a suit instead of his usual customized hoodie.

"I'm particularly grateful that Coach decided to dress up today," Obama said. "We had some scissors in case he wanted to cut the sleeves off. Formal hoodies are allowed."

Belichick didn't just dress up, it appeared he wore his first three Super Bowl rings. Owner Robert Kraft wore his usual tennis shoes with his suit.

It was a little unusual that the team's best player wasn't there. Obama did mention Brady, calling him "an all-time great who couldn't be with us here today" and praising how well he played in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. Brady did go to the White House the first three times he was part of a Super Bowl championship team. All three of those times George W. Bush, a Republican, was the president. CSNNE pointed out that Brady was also a guest at Bush's 2004 State of the Union address.

Obama had very high praise for the Patriots as an organization, and for good reason. They've put together one of the best dynasties in NFL history.

"The Patriots organization is as good of an organization as there has ever been in professional sports," Obama said. "To be able to maintain that kind of consistent excellence is a rare thing in any field, including on the football field."

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab