As the Philadelphia Eagles begin their post-Super Bowl celebrations, several players have indicated they will not participate in the winning team’s traditional White House visit.
Trump, who released a statement on Sunday urging players to “proudly stand for the anthem,” congratulated the Eagles for their first Super Bowl win in franchise history.
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Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles on a great Super Bowl victory!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2018
But some of the players stand in opposition to Trump’s controversial opinions of the NFL’s right to protest during the national anthem, and admit they will not attend the upcoming festivities in Washington D.C.
Among those players is wide receiver Torrey Smith, who raised his first on the field Sunday to stand in solidarity with the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
“We read the news just like everyone else,” Smith said on Wednesday. “You see Donald Trump tweet something… We have those conversations in the locker room, just like everyone else does in the workplace. We’re very informed about what goes on, and we’re trying to continue to educate ourselves.”
Ahead of the big game, Smith said he would skip the White House visit should the Eagles emerge victorious, citing Trump’s war of the NFL throughout the season. He added that Trump and many others have a misguided view of the protests.
“They call it the anthem protest,” Smith said. “We’re not protesting the anthem. It’s a protest during the anthem. I understand why people are mad, or may be offended when someone takes a knee. My father, when he dies, is going to be buried with an American flag draped around his casket, being that he served in the Army.”
Smith will be joined in his absence by Eagles defensive end Chris Long, who skipped the White House visit last year when he played for the 2017 Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
“No, I’m not going to the White House. Are you kidding me?” Long said during an interview with Pardon My Take Podcast last Sunday.
Long’s former teammate and Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount also skipped the White House visit in 2017, saying, “I just don’t feel welcome into that house. I’m just gonna leave it at that.”
Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, who also raised his fist during the national anthem on Sunday, has been an outspoken critic of the Trump and is expected to skip the White House visit.
While Patriots players skipped the visit last year, many players have criticized Trump in the 2017–2018 season after he waged war on the league in September, following major, sometimes team-wide, protests during the national anthem.
At the time, Trump called for players to be suspended or fired and for coaches to force their players to stand during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
