The NFL’s New England Patriots were honored at the White House Thursday for their Super Bowl victory against the Seattle Seahawks at the beginning of the year.

Jokes were made (President Obama laid a doozy about “Deflategate”) and plenty of photographs were taken before the famous home at 1600 Pennsylvania, and while it was ceremonious and noteworthy — as far as importance — it paled in comparison to the trip a handful of the players and coaches took just down the road at Walter Reed Medical Center.

It was there where the football heroes met the real heroes.

According to the Boston Globe, the owner of the Patriots — Bob Kraft — along with head coach Bill Belichick and six players (Julian Edelman, Devin McCourty, Chandler Jones, Jerod Mayo, Matthew Slater and Rob Gronkowski) visited the military hospital early Thursday morning. Apparently, the team wanted to bring every player but a smaller group ensured “better one-on-one” time with the recovering warriors.

“The trip to Walter Reed this morning for many members of the team and organization was outstanding,” Belichick said during the presidential ceremony. “Those are the real heroes, today and every day, defending our freedom.”

Interestingly enough, Belichick grew up around the military, as his father was a football coach at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

“We realized what a great country this is and how thankful we are to be here,” Kraft said. “We celebrate sports today, but we also celebrate what’s great about America. Being at that hospital, it was pretty special.”

“It’s unbelievable to see these young men and women serving their country and going out there and seeing the things that you see there,” Edelman — a wide receiver for the team — said. “Like Coach said, those are the true heroes.”

“It was a tremendous time,” Jones said. “I was very shocked with how many Patriots fans were in there, guys with Gronkowski and Edelman and Jones jerseys. It was a great cause and it gives you a different outlook on life, and I just want to thank those guys, if they’re watching.”

More from the The Boston Globe:

Perhaps the most touching moment came when the Patriots presented a football autographed by the entire team to a combat veteran who happened to be a diehard Seahawks fan, of all things. The Seahawk fan watched the Super Bowl in the wee hours of the morning from Afghanistan with his buddy, a medic named John Dawson who was a diehard Patriots fan from Whitinsville, Mass.

 

Dawson has since been killed in action. The Seahawk fan asked for a Patriots autographed football so he could present it to Dawson’s family.