When the New England Patriots travel to Washington, D.C. to visit the White House on April 19, a few players won’t be in attendance.

One of the members of the New England’s Super Bowl winning squad is former Rutgers safety Devin McCourty. And he was one of two players – along with Chris Long – to elaborate on his decision to skip the tradition meet-and-greet with the President of the United States.

The reasoning was explained in this short video titled StandingPats (Be Patriots):

In the video, McCourty says, “for me, it was simple. I don’t believe in excluding.”

“Right away I knew I wasn’t going because it was something I had thought about before we even won the game,” the New England veteran continued, saying he believes in letting people be who they are.”

The video mostly included fans of the Patriots, but McCourty and Long wanted to add their voices to the message as well.

McCourty played at Rutgers from 2005-2009. He was an All-Big East selection in 2009 and was a late first round pick in the 2010 NFL draft by the Patriots. He’s played in New England for six years, earning two Pro Bowl selections and winning two Super Bowls during that time.