President Donald Trump hosted the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes at the White House on Monday.
The Buckeyes earned their visit to the Oval Office the hard way. After a season-ending loss to Michigan ruined their Big Ten title hopes, Ohio State reeled off four-straight wins over Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff, the last victory coming in the national championship game.
“To be here surrounded by our players, staff, [and] university leadership is a moment we’ll never forget,” OSU head coach Ryan Day said on Monday. “Traveling to D.C. was the easy part. Earning the right to be here was the hard one.”
Pictures and videos of the Buckeyes spending time with Trump and vice president J.D. Vance have been going viral, including one shared by the official White House Instagram account.
In the photo, which is second in the carousel below, a contingent of players can be seen cheering for Trump as he approaches them.
People from both sides of the political spectrum are probably going to make a bigger deal out of this picture than is warranted.
The only thing we can say for certain is it looked like the Ohio State players were understandably excited to celebrate their accomplishment with the leader of the free world.
“This was a historic year in college football,” Trump said when addressing the crowd. “Standing together today, these men are the first college football players in history who can proudly call themselves 12-team playoff champions. That’s not easy. You’re the first ones.”
Trump also joked that Jan. 20, the day he was inaugurated and the day Ohio State beat Notre Dame to win the national title, was “a big day for all of us.”
Ohio State was the second championship team to visit Trump in the White House this month, and the third since he reentered office in January.
The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles will be in next on April 28.
Related: Ryan Day Sent Clear Message About Ohio State’s White House Visit