Cyrus Langhorne
The Philadelphia Eagles are feeling President Donald Trump‘s wrath. The head of state has decided to cancel an invitation to the Super Bowl champions over a publicized national anthem dispute.
According to reports, the Eagles will no longer pull through to the White House Tuesday (June 5) to celebrate their huge February win.
“The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow. They disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country. The Eagles wanted to send a smaller delegation, but the 1,000 fans planning to attend the event deserve better. These fans are still invited to the White House to be part of a different type of ceremony — one that will honor our great country, pay tribute to the heroes who fight to protect it, and loudly and proudly play the National Anthem. I will be there at 3:00 p.m. with the United States Marine Band and the United States Army Chorus to celebrate America.” (Statement)
Earlier this year, multiple Eagles stars said they wouldn’t attend the White House celebration visit.
When the Eagles first won Super Bowl LII, Malcolm Jenkins, Torrey Smith and Chris Long immediately stated they had no intentions of making the trip to the White House. Last month, when the team announced it was planning on making the trip June 5, quarterback Carson Wentz said he planned on going if most of his teammates were going to go and add that he didn’t see it is a political matter. (Sports Illustrated)
A few weeks ago, the NFL announced it would force players to stand during the national anthem this upcoming season.
Last month, the NFL announced it would require athletes to stand during the national anthem in response to players who took a knee as protest to what some players see as the systemic oppression of people of color, including by police. The movement was initially started by Colin Kaepernick, who was formerly with the San Francisco 49ers. He drew national attention for refusing to stand during “The Star-Spangled Banner” prior to kickoff. (CNN)
