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It didn’t take long for the story that the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have refused an invite to visit President Donald Trump’s White House to become the latest football in the Culture Wars.
Conservative Megyn Kelly tweeted “Go F Yourselves Eagles” to her 3.5 million followers. But former CNN personality John Harwood approved of the team’s alleged decision: “Because the Eagles have self-respect.”
Here’s the problem for Kelly, Harwood, and everybody else already sounding off to a fare-thee-well: The “Eagles Decline White House visit” story appears to be premature at best and flat-out wrong at worst.
The Eagles have not had a chance to skip an Oval Office visit because an official invitation has not been sent yet, sources tell Front Office Sports. A source close to the NFL foresees the Eagles “accepting” a Trump invite once it’s made.
The swirling Eagles rumors may stem from a pre-Super Bowl story by the U.S. Sun on Feb. 6 that examined whether the team and owner Jeffrey Lurie would accept Trump’s invitation if they beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. According to that story, the team has already decided to snub Trump if they beat the Chiefs, which they did handily, by the lopsided score of 40-22.
Clay Travis of Outkick cited a White House source on X Monday morning saying the report was fake news: “The Philadelphia Eagles have not rejected a White House invite. The reports that have gone viral on social media are fake news. The White House has not even sent the official invite to the Eagles yet.”
Could the Eagles decline the invite once it’s sent out? Sure. It’s ultimately up to the players and Lurie whether they want to celebrate their victory with the returning president in the nation’s capital. Given Lurie’s non-committal response to FOS in New Orleans, he hasn’t made a decision. Trump famously called on the NFL to “fire” players kneeling during the national anthem in 2016-2017. And Trump did cancel the team’s last planned Super Bowl visit in 2018 because most of the Eagles players–including virtually all the Black players–decided not to attend.
On the other hand, the nation’s most powerful and popular sports league is not looking for a fight with Trump and his MAGA movement. The NFL had zero objection to players performing the “Trump Dance” as an on-field celebration this year. Before the Big Game this month, the NFL ditched the “End Racism” stencil that had appeared in the end zones during the four previous Super Bowls.
Since returning to the Oval Office, Trump has embraced the NFL and sports. He personally attended the Super Bowl (making him the first sitting president to show up at the Big Game) and the Daytona 500. He agreed to a taped interview with Fox News that aired during Fox Sports’ pregame coverage of Super Bowl LIX. Trump also found time to tape a message on Inauguration Day before ESPN’s coverage of the College Football Playoff National Championship.
There’s no immediacy here either. NFL players are off for the next couple of months until mini-camps start. Such ceremonial visits typically don’t happen until June or July. As Mark Twain said, this might be an example of a lie traveling halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.
