Why Jalen Hurts and other Eagles players are not attending White House

Irish Daily Star

28-04-2025

Jalen Hurts and several other members of the
Philadelphia Eagles
'
Super Bowl
-winning team are set to shun President
Donald Trump
's invite to the White House due to 'scheduling conflicts.'
For some time, it has been a tradition for U.S. sports teams to visit the White House to celebrate their championship victories in their respective leagues. Earlier this month,
Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers traveled to D.C
. to mark their World Series triumph, and
the Eagles are set to follow suit
.
Back in February, the Eagles defeated the
Kansas City Chiefs
in Super Bowl LIX at the Superdome.
Philadelphia
crushed Kansas City with President Trump
, who had predicted Patrick Mahomes and co. to emerge victorious, watching on
although he left prematurely in the third quarter
.
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Hurts was named Super Bowl MVP
thanks to his 221 passing yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for a game-high 72 yards and a score. However, the 26-year-old
will not be visiting the White House
as part of the traditional visit to honor the Super Bowl champions.
On Monday, a White House official confirmed
Hurts
will not visit the White House when the Eagles come to D.C. later in the day due to 'scheduling conflicts.' Hurts will be joined by several other prominent Eagles stars in
not attending the trip to visit President Trump
.
The decision by Hurts and 'other prominent Eagles' players comes after Saquon Barkley lashed out at fans over the backlash he received for
playing a round of golf
with the controversial President. Barkley
attempted to justify his decision
later on social media, which led to further ridicule.
Several players have already spoken out in opposition
following the team's
dominant win over the three-peat-chasing Kansas City Chiefs
in New Orleans in February with Trump in attendance. When TIME asked if he would be present,
Hurts looked dismissively off-camera and refused to answer
, seemingly making his feelings very clear about the upcoming event.
Jalen Hurts recently refused to confirm if he'll visit Donald Trump at the White House with his Super Bowl-winning Eagles
(Image: TIME)
Hurts and several of his teammates' decision to avoid the White House emulates the 2018 Eagles team, who also didn't go to the White House after Trump revoked their invitation. Back in 2018, after the Eagles defeated
Tom Brady
's
New England Patriots
in Super Bowl LII, the likes of Chris Long, Malcolm Jenkins, and Torrey Smith made it clear they did not want to attend after the
NFL
passed a rule that banned players from kneeling – or making any other protest gestures – during the national anthem.
The Eagles' invite to the White House was ultimately revoked when the organization decided to send a smaller delegation to Washington D.C. for the event. Ahead of meeting with Trump following their second Lombardi Trophy win, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie
has already stated that players won't be forced
to attend - including Hurts.
'Our culture is that these are optional things,' Lurie told reporters. 'If you want to enjoy this, come along and we'll have a great time and if you don't, it is totally an optional thing.'
Lurie further further clarified the nature of the visit: 'This is really just an invitation from the White House. That's all this is, and we're not politicizing it in any way. Not for us.'