Boycott or appointments? Trump invites Super Bowl winners to the White House, but star players stay away
Washington D.C./Philadelphia - US President Donald Trump (78) invited the reigning Super Bowl winners , the Philadelphia Eagles, to the White House on Monday. But some star players stayed away from the event.
Due to scheduling conflicts, as the White House unofficially states, the team's figurehead and star quarterback Jalen Hurts (26) in particular had other commitments.
Celebrated wide receivers A. J. Brown (27) and DeVonta Smith (26) - along with most of the defense players - also stayed away from the event.
Exactly which scheduling conflicts the players are supposed to be dealing with remained largely open.
The team and Trump do not appear to be good friends. Hurts, for example, was asked in advance at a Time magazine gala whether he would travel to the reception in the US capital.
The 26-year-old title winner initially remained silent for a long time in response to this question - and then walked away. Nevertheless, Trump described him as a "great guy and a great player" at the reception.
Not the first dispute between Trump and the Eagles
It is said that the NFL team and the US president do not necessarily have a good relationship. Although Trump was the first sitting president to travel to the final game, he supported the opponents from Kansas City.
Probably also because their quarterback Patrick Mahomes (29) and his wife are avowed MAGA supporters. When the Chiefs were clearly behind, Trump left the stadium. In the end, the Eagles won 40:22 .
After some back and forth, Philadelphia finally accepted the invitation to the President's traditional championship celebration. Unlike in 2018, when Philadelphia also won the title and Trump was president. Due to protests against police violence, several players knelt during the national anthem during the season.
At the time, Trump demanded that the invited players stand with their hand on their heart during the anthem. In the end, fewer than ten players are said to have been willing to travel to the US President. The event was canceled.
Philadelphia's mayor at the time, Jim Kenney (66), commented that this "only proves that our president is not a true patriot, but a fragile egomaniac". The city is considered the cradle of American democracy.