President Joe Biden attended the Maccabiah Games Thursday night in Jerusalem, meeting with Jewish-American athletes before making a cameo at the opening ceremony.
‘I’m so damn proud of you,’ Biden told the athletes in the underbelly of Teddy Stadium. ‘You demonstrate to the world that we can do anything. You think I’m kidding, I’m not kidding.’
The president then told a story about how he played football in college – for only a portion of freshman year – and asked a friend to help him get a walk-on NFL tryout.
A friend said he could get a walk-on, but his agent worried Biden wouldn’t walk-off the field, Biden jokingly recalled.
The Maccabiah Games was launched in 1932 and brings together the Jewish athletes of the world.
Biden attended the opening ceremony alongside Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who he held more formal meetings with earlier in the day.
