Columbus Crew visit the White House, second gentleman Doug Emhoff delivers remarks

The Crew were honored at the White House on Friday for their 2023 MLS Cup championship title.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff gave the main address at the ceremony, describing himself as a "late sub in" for President Joe Biden, who was unable to attend the ceremony but met with the team beforehand.

Emhoff acknowledged the Crew's accomplishments on and off the field, naming multiple community initiatives the club takes part in after commenting on Columbus' " nine major trophies " since 1996.

When going through the Crew's path to their MLS Cup title, Emhoff described how Crew coach Wilfried Nancy guided Columbus through the playoffs.

"Coach Nancy, you shared an important lesson with the team ... and that's courage," Emhoff said. "Without courage, you can't do anything. And courage is exactly what you showed in that championship match."

Nancy followed up Emhoff's remarks with his own statement and spoke about how he never expected to be in the White House when he was a youngster in France dreaming about being a coach.

"That's why I don't like expectations," Nancy said. "So, I needed to stay on the task and stay in the present moment to get better as a coach and to understand myself as a human being, and then also my dream. That is what we did last year, and we recognized that we could be limitless."

At the end of the ceremony, Nancy, along with Crew owner Dee Haslam, general manger Issa Tall and captain Darlington Nagbe, presented Emhoff with a No. 1 Crew jersey.

Columbus Crew react to White House visit

Crew striker Cucho Hernandez could relate to what Nancy said in his speech. Hailing from Colombia, Hernandez never expected to be in the White House meeting the U.S. president, but still found the moment to be special.

"I said it to my coaches, teammates, the dream has come true," Hernandez said. "I like that for us. I'm so happy to be here. Everything is good."

Nancy was helped by some of his staff when it came to the details of the speech, and following the ceremony he credited those who worked with him to turn his "big ideas" into what he presented.

More special than the speech for Nancy was watching the impact the trip had on the players.

"I saw them. I felt they're grateful to be here," Nancy said. "To be here, it's a privilege and they understood the privilege that it is. That is why this is a good example that if we do good things in life we can have good consequences and good rewards."

Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte described himself as "starstruck" when he met Biden and saw what the White House looks like.

"I think just being American, you look at the White House and the Secret Service and everything that goes on around it, it's hard to describe (being there)," Schulte said. "It's just crazy to be inside everything that's going on."

bmackay@dispatch.com

@brimackay15

Get more Columbus Crew content by listening to our podcast

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew visit the White House, second gentleman Doug Emhoff delivers remarks