At first blush, it looked like the inauguration photo comparison all over again. 
 
 Two images appearing to compare the number of New England Patriots players and staff at recent White House ceremonies rocketed around the Internet Wednesday night, appearing to show a much larger turnout for the event hosted by President Barack Obama in 2015 than President Donald Trump in 2017. 
 
 It was picked up and reported on by many news organizations, including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and CNN. A Times tweet of the photos had nearly 35,000 retweets and 48,000 “likes” as of Wednesday night. 
 
 Patriots' turnout for President Obama in 2015 vs. Patriots' turnout for President Trump today: https://t.co/OxMEOqZonI pic.twitter.com/pLmJWhOw1j — NYT Sports (@NYTSports) April 19, 2017 
 
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 But the devil is in the details. 
 
 Patriots spokesman Stacey James pointed out shortly after the stories were published that the two photos were not an equal comparison, noting that the 2015 photo included administrative staff, while the 2017 photo didn’t. 
 
 And there was a valid reason for that, James said. 
 
 In 2015, the whole Patriots entourage met with the president in a room pictured above the lawn stairs, and then proceeded to file down the stairs for the photo to be taken, James said. 
 
 “Two years ago, the process was the players and coaches went down, and then the football staff filled in on the stairs,” James said. 
 
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 But this year, all the football and administrative staff were seated on the South Lawn: “That’s just what the White House chose to do,” he said. 
 
 One reason for the smaller group on the risers was likely because the Trump administration wanted to take the players on a tour of the living quarters, but wanted to take a smaller group — just the players and core coaching staff — instead of the whole entourage. 
 
 In 2015, as soon as the event was over, “we left — that was it,” James said. “This time, there was a tour given to a smaller group.” 
 
 James said a photo of everyone at the White House associated with the Patriots was taken at around noon Wednesday during a rehearsal for the event. That image was forwarded to the Globe by the Patriots organization: 
 
 Photo courtesy of the Patriots organization 
 
 James also said that trying to compare the attendance of 2017 to 2015 was “wrong.” 
 
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 “When you win two [Super Bowls] in three years, fewer people go than one in 10 years,” he said, noting that player turnout for the White House ceremonies between 2002 and 2005 decreased steadily. 
 
 “It’s just the way it goes,” James said. “It’s a long day. It’s a cool thing you do once — maybe you do it twice — but it’s just not necessarily something you choose to do every time. We had people today who were attending funerals, who were sick — it wasn’t political; it’s just life.” 
 
 This year, several Patriots players said they would not be attending, some specifically citing Trump’s behavior and policies as the reason why. 
 
 Tom Brady was notably absent from the event, saying earlier in the day he had to attend to “personal family matters.” 
 
 Danny Amendola received a shoutout from the president during the event, but he was also absent, and later tweeted at the president in a post that has since been deleted: “Thanks for the shout out @realDonaldTrump! in the GYM! Funeral service for my boy Jaimie Carrillo tonight! RIP-JC.” 
 
 The Patriots photo comparison also comes after widely circulated photos appeared to show smaller crowd sizes for Donald Trump’s inauguration than Barack Obama’s in 2009. The photos prompted White House press secretary Sean Spicer to lash out at news organizations and accuse them of false reporting. 
 
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 Brian J. White of the Globe staff contributed to this report. ||||| Tweet with a location 
 
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– It's another Trump-related brouhaha over crowd size. The New York Times set this one off with a tweet of two photos, one showing the New England Patriots visiting Trump at the White House on Wednesday and another showing them visiting President Obama in 2015. The Obama crowd was much bigger. A few hours later, the Patriots took public exception to the tweet with one of their own complaining that the images "lack context." And they have a point: The 2015 photo included players, coaches, and administrative staff. The 2017 photo included players and coaches only—those same staffers were seated in the audience. All of which caught the attention of Trump himself, who tweeted Thursday: "Failing @nytimes, which has been calling me wrong for two years, just got caught in a big lie concerning New England Patriots visit to W.H." It's true that fewer players attended this year's event than in 2015—34 vs. about 50. But a team spokesman says even that comparison is unfair given that it's the team's second Super Bowl win in three years, reports the Boston Globe. It's just human nature that fewer would come this time, he suggested, not politics. However, at least one player skipped because of the president's politics, notes the Washington Post: free safety Devin McCourty. QB Tom Brady also skipped this year, though he cited family reasons, and he skipped in 2015, too. Meanwhile, the Huffington Post notes that his wife, Gisele Bundchen, issued a tweet Wednesday perceived as anti-Trump. It's since been deleted, but it supported an April 29 march in DC against new White House environmental policies. "March for climate, jobs, and justice," it read.