President Donald Trump uninvited the 2018 NFL Champion Eagles from their White House visit on Monday night, citing that only a few decided to attend over national anthem controversy.
“The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House on Monday. “They disagree with their President because they insist that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.”
The Eagles were vaguer in their own statement, making no mention of Trump or the national anthem policy.
“It has been incredibly thrilling to celebrate our first Super Bowl Championship. Watching the entire Eagles community come together has been an inspiration,” they said. “We are truly grateful for all of the support we have received and we are looking forward to continuing our preparations for the 2018 season.”
Many of the Eagles players had already chosen to not attend the visit celebrating their Super Bowl win, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported. The team reportedly held several meetings this week to discuss the possibility of sending a smaller group of players and team representatives.
Torrey Smith, a wide receiver on the champion Eagles team, tweeted a response to Trump’s statement, calling it a “false narrative.”
http://twitter.com/TorreySmithWR/status/1003785689555664897
The national anthem policy in question was unanimously approved by NFL team owners in May and states that on-field players and personnel must stand during the anthem to avoid being fined, but does allow for them to remain in the locker room. The policy has drawn criticism from players and fans in the weeks since it was announced and may have been a factor in the Eagles’ decision.
Had the few Eagles representatives, which reportedly included quarterback Nick Fowles, that chose to go been allowed to attend the visit, this would have been the second consecutive year that the champion NFL team sent a smaller group of representatives. Tom Brady and Martellus Bennett were among players and coaches from the New England Patriots that chose not to attend the 2017 White House visit.
The 2017 NBA champion Golden State Warriors also chose not to attend their own visit, which Trump chose to cancel after multiple players told reporters that they would not attend if invited. The Warriors players and coaches chose to take kids from Seat Pleasant, Maryland, Kevin Durant’s hometown, to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie apparently did not want to put his players and coaches in a difficult decision by asking them to attend the White House celebration. Lurie has not outright agreed or disagreed with his player’s decisions to kneel during the anthem in the past but was one of the votes in the unanimous policy change.
Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins however, posted his distaste for the policy change on Instagram shortly after it was announced.
“What NFL owners did today was thwart the players’ constitutional rights to express themselves and use our platform to draw attention to social injustices like racial inequality in our country,” Jenkins said. “Everyone loses when voices get stifled. While I disagree with this decision, I will not let it silence me or stop me from fighting.”
Jenkins was reportedly among the more than half of the team’s players, coaches and other representatives that chose not to go through with the White House visit. Many of those not attending were expected to travel to DC and perform community service, meet with law officials, or go sightseeing in lieu of the visit with Trump.
Featured Image via Flickr/Keith Burkett
