close
close
Philadelphia celebrates with Donald Trump

Philadelphia celebrates with Donald Trump

by

play

The Philadelphia Eagles celebrated their youngest Super Bowl championship with President Donald Trump in the White House on Monday, although at least two dozen players – including Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts – did not take part.

During a short ceremony at the South Lawn, Trump praised the Eagles for a dominant season, which she ended with a 40-22 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. He also praised the famous “Tush Push” play of the team, which some NFL teams now want to ban, and praised how he ran back Saquon Barkley as a “good -looking type” that he did not want to tackle.

“I was with the (New York) Giants, the head coach and some people and said: 'Do something you have to, but don't lose Saquon.' They lost Saquon, “said Trump from the crowd to laugh. “It wasn't good. I called that. It was easy to call.”

Trump also noticed his presence in the Super Bowl, which was rare for a sitting president. And he seemed to make a jump with pop star Taylor Swift, who was also present to support her friend, Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce.

“I was together with Taylor Swift. How did it work? How did it work?” Trump said Swift.

The visit to the ceremonies took place almost seven years after the team of the team with Trump during his first term. The President abruptly broken the Eagles on the eve of their planned trip after their first Super Bowl title in 2018 and reported that they plan to bring only a small contingent of players to the White House. Trump's press spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders opened the team publicly for a “political stunt”.

In view of the previous sharpness between Trump and the Eagles, there were questions whether Monday would pass into the White House – or whether the president would invite the team at all. Trump has expanded an invitation last month after the team publicly signaled that it would accept one if they were offered.

“We only had the feeling that this was a time-honored tradition that is invited by the White House,” said the chairman and CEO of Eagles, Jeffrey Lurie, to reporters at the meeting of the NFL owners at the beginning of this month. “There was no restraint. It celebrated a good thing in the White House. Back then (in 2018) there were special circumstances that were very different.”

Lurie added that “it is completely optional” and is left to every player and trainer to decide whether he wanted to participate. This decision seemed easier for some players than others.

Which Eagles players didn't go to the White House?

Hurts and Wide Receiver AJ Brown and Devonta Smith were among the most important players who were absent in the ceremony. An official of the White House announced that USA Today would be one of those who are not present due to a “planning conflict”. When he was asked by a reporter last week if he would visit the Trump team, said Hurts “Umm” and did not answer otherwise.

Ultimately, 54 members of the Eagles organization took part in the ceremony, including Lurie, General Manager Howie Roseman head coach Nick Sirianni and several co -trainers and support staff such as Chief Security Officer Dom Disandro, who also received a mention of Trump. Barkley, offensive Lineman Lane Johnson and Safety Reed Blankenship were among the players present.

Barkley had spent time with Trump in the golf club of his company in New Jersey the day before and even traveled to Washington in Air Force later a day. The Running Back replied to critics to X, formerly known as Twitter, with the determination that he also played Golf with the former Democrat against President Barack Obama. “Maybe I'm just respecting the office not to understand a difficult concept,” wrote Barkley.

Eagles are rare NFL team to visit Trump White House

The act of celebrating a championship in the White House has become increasingly Dorny under Trump, who has repeatedly used the world of sport as a battlefield for cultural issues. During his first term, the visits of the sports teams were more sporadic than in previous administrations, with several championship teams in the NBA and in the sports leagues of women either not invited or leaning to participate.

So far, Trump has already organized several teams in his second term, including the NHLS Florida Panthers and the Los Angeles Dodgers from MLB. But the athletes who have chosen the White House have also exposed themselves to public criticism – claims that their participation is a tacit confirmation of Trump's presidency, which has been passed in controversy.

The Dodgers' visit was, for example, after the Trump administration had scratched information on the legendary former Dodger Jackie Robinson, the first black player in MLB, from a government website as part of a wider initiative to eliminate references to diversity, equity and inclusion. (The page was later restored after a public counter reaction.) Mookie Betts, the only black player in the team, decided to visit the White House after skipping an earlier visit under Trump in 2019.

“I only think that today's politics is so polarized that whatever you do, you will support you as a political platform or a position,” said historian Frank Guridy at the beginning of this year.

The Eagles are only the second NFL team that visits the White House under Trump, who spent part of his first term in criticizing the league and some of his players because they kneeled during the national anthem to protest against racist inequality and police brutality. The New England Patriots 2017 are the only other NFL team that Trump's white house visited.

Post: Joey Garrison

Contact Tom Schad at chad@usatoday.com or on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.

Leave a Comment