Eagles QB Jalen Hurts to skip White House celebration, administration official tells AP
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Jalen Hurts is one of several Philadelphia Eagles players who are expected to skip Monday's White House celebration to honor the Super Bowl champs, according to a White House official.
Hurts and other players cited scheduling conflicts as the reasons for their absences, according to the official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press.
A ceremony to celebrate the win with President Trump is scheduled to start sometime after 4 p.m. You can watch on 6abc, 6abc.com and wherever you stream 6abc.
Asked by a reporter on the red carpet of Time magazine gala last week whether he would visit, Hurts responded with an awkward "um" and long silence before walking away.
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Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley visited Trump over the weekend at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and caught a ride with the president to Washington on Air Force One.
The Birds did not visit the White House after their first Super Bowl win in 2018. As to why, there were different reasons swirling, including that the White House canceled after learning only a small portion of the team would be attending. This was also during a time when the president had been critical of players protesting during the national anthem, including Eagles' Malcolm Jenkins.
The White House blamed the Eagles for the cancellation and, instead, held a celebration of America.
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When asked earlier this month, owner Jeffrey Lurie said the team would attend.
"When you grow up and you hear about the championship team got to go to the White House, that's what this is. We didn't have that opportunity and now we do, and I think we are all looking forward to it," Lurie said.
But Lurie also added that the White House visit was optional, and there are questions about who may or may not go.
