His father was a grocer and small-time landlord, but the family was so strapped the old man wore the same pair of underwear every day, washing them each night.
Authorities say the Nigerian man tried to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear as a flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, made its final approach to Detroit.
Obama joked about Beckham's age, his injuries and his outside interests, saying it was a "rare man who can be that tough on the field and also have his own line of underwear".