Nearly 30 members of the Philadelphia Eagles, the Super Bowl LIX champions, attended a ceremony at the White House hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday to celebrate their victory.
Trump was left red-faced after admitting he had incorrectly predicted the Kansas City Chiefs would win the Super Bowl. He also made a notable comment about Jalen Hurts, the Eagles’ star quarterback who was absent from the event.
Several key players were missing from the ceremony, with a White House representative citing “scheduling conflicts” as the reason. Among the absentees was quarterback Hurts, who was named Super Bowl LIX MVP after an impressive performance that included 293 yards and three touchdowns in the Eagles’ 40-22 win over the Chiefs.
When asked last week at a TIME event if he would attend the White House ceremony, the 26-year-old Hurts declined to answer, awkwardly looking away. His teammates, Pro Bowl wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonte Smith, also did not attend the event in the Rose Garden.
Notably, a significant portion of the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning defense was also absent, including defensive tackles Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter, defensive ends Josh Sweat and Jalyx Hunt, linebackers Zach Baun, Nakobe Dean, and Nolan Smith JR, cornerbacks Darius Slay, Quinyon Mitchell, and Isaiah Rodgers, and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who currently plays for the Houston Texans.
2024 Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley was seen alongside Trump throughout much of Monday’s event, following a Sunday golf round with the President.
Barkley caught wind of the criticism regarding his White House visit and took to social media to confront it head-on. “Lol some people are really upset cause I played golf and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT,” he tweeted to his over 600,000 followers.
“Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand. Just golfed with Obama not too long ago…and look forward to finishing my round with Trump! Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have amazing day.”
In contrast to Barkley’s engagement, the Eagles had previously declined a White House invitation in 2018 after clinching Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots during Trump’s initial term.
The event wrapped up with Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson, who holds titles from both Philadelphia’s championship teams, presenting Trump with a personalized Eagles jersey emblazoned with his name.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was another notable attendee at the Rose Garden ceremony. Team owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman accompanied him.
