Barack Obama says he came to Philadelphia to scout Carson Wentz. Joe Biden told him to “get on the Wentz Wagon.” pic.twitter.com/c5YCpy9qVr
— Dan McQuade (@dhm) September 13, 2016
Carson Wentz is kind of a big deal. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft led the Philadelphia Eagles to an impressive victory over the Cleveland Browns in his NFL debut in Week 1 and, within hours, the former North Dakota State standout was generating a shoutout from POTUS. Barack Obama was speaking in Philadelphia at an event promoting Hillary Clinton‘s presidential bid, and during his address, the president referenced VP Joe Biden and the new Eagles quarterback.
As usual, Obama made it clear that his football (and general sporting) allegiances lie with the city of Chicago, but he does so while pumping up Wentz’s newfound celebrity. The Eagles will take on the Bears in Week 2’s Monday Night Football matchup, and while the rookie will already be under pressure to follow up his surprisingly spectacular debut – Wentz went 22-for-37 with 278 yards and two scores in the win – this will not help in slowing the hype train.
Obama is perhaps the president most associated with sports fandom, and even if he was prompted into the discussion about Carson Wentz, it seems pretty clear that he had some level of working knowledge on the young signal-caller. It will be interesting to see if Wentz can live up to the growing expectations, but he now has a (very) famous “scout” in advance of his next performance.
