Clemson Football Wins National Title And All The White House Gave Them To Eat Was Fast Food

The classic challenge coaches give us when playing sports is that if we can pull off the impossible, they’ll treat us to a steak dinner of some kind. It carries a level of achievement because we get to feast on an expensive, tasty cut of meat to reward our athletic feats.

That’s almost completely the opposite of what Clemson University got during their recent trip to the White House.

Imagine you bust your ass all season, leave it all on the field and win a national championship. The President invites you to the White House. You go, you’re so excited. You can’t believe it.

And when you get there, he offers you McDonalds and Wendy’s pic.twitter.com/gtVW7arbPn

— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 14, 2019

Maybe it was because of the government shutdown tightening budgets, or maybe it was because the President thinks that fast food is an actual reward. Whatever the case, the Clemson football team got a massive serving of fast food staples as their reward for winning a national title and getting to meet the President.

According to Reuters reporter Roberta Rampton, the President paid out of pocket for the fast food feast because most of the White House residence staff were furloughed as a part of the shutdown. That meant that Clemson football got to snack on Filet-o-Fishes, fast food salads, Wendy’s burgers, and McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, based on photos that Rampton took.

This is Clemson’s second national title (and White House visit) in the past 3 years. Last time, The Morning Call reports that they were treated to “the best finger food I ever had,” as one player in attendance put it. Shrimp were among the delicacies offered back then, so for any returning Clemson football players, the spread of McDonald’s and Wendy’s was clearly a step down of what they were used to.

Not the feast you dream of when getting to go to such an illustrious place as the White House. Apparently, Clemson’s team ate most of what was available though, so at least they didn’t leave the tour hungry.