Jalen Hurts has not confirmed whether he will attend the Philadelphia Eagles‘ White House visit to celebrate their Super Bowl victory. U.S. sports teams usually make a trip to the White House after winning their respective seasons.
However, President Donald Trump cancelled the Eagles’ visit in 2018 when they last won the Super Bowl, as several players expressed their unwillingness to attend. This was a reaction to the NFL‘s decision to ban players from kneeling or making any other protest gestures during the national anthem.
This year, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the Eagles “enthusiastically accepted,” despite rumors of several players expressing opposition following the team’s dominant win over the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans in February, with the President in attendance.
However, Super Bowl LIX MVP and Eagles starting quarterback Hurts has remained silent on whether he will be attending the April 28 White House visit.
When TIME asked if he would be present, Hurts looked dismissively off-camera and refused to answer, clearly indicating his feelings about the upcoming event.
Tensions are mounting ahead of an anticipated encounter between Trump and the Eagles, propelled by the team’s owner, Jeffrey Lurie, who has emphasized the non-compulsory nature of such visits for players like Hurts. “Our culture is that these are optional things,” Lurie stated to journalists.
“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 also reflected on the changing social dynamics since 2018. “There were special circumstances [in 2018] that were very different, and so this was kind of an obvious choice and [we] look forward to it,” he remarked.
“When you grow up and you hear about, ‘Oh, the championship team got to go to the White House,’ that’s what this is. And so we didn’t have that opportunity and now we do. I think we’re all looking forward to it. This is really just an invitation from the White House,” Lurie further noted. “That’s all this is, and we’re not politicizing it in any way. Not for us.”
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Trump, on his part, has not minced words in deeming the Eagles’ prior behavior “disrespectful.” His proclamation was blunt: “The Philadelphia Eagles Football Team was invited to the White House. Unfortunately, only a small number of players decided to come, and we canceled the event.
“Staying in the Locker Room for the playing of our National Anthem is as disrespectful to our country as kneeling. Sorry!”
