White House invite won’t fly with Birds
PHILADELPHIA — They have not even been invited yet, but several Eagles have said they will not celebrate their Super Bowl victory with President Trump.
“No, I’m not going to the White House,” Chris Long said. “Are you kidding me?”
Malcolm Jenkins, Torrey Smith, and two-time boycotters LeGarrette Blount and Long, who sat out last year’s visit as members of the Patriots, have all come out in the last 24 hours and said they will not attend the traditional visit championship teams make to Washington.
“My message has been clear all year. I’m about creating positive change in the communities that I come from, whether it be Philadelphia, New Jersey, Ohio, Louisiana, or this entire country,” Jenkins said Monday morning on CNN, reiterating the position that he will not visit Trump. “I want to see changes in our criminal justice system. I want to see us push for economic and educational advancement in communities of color and low-income communities.”
Rumors are circulating on social media that the Eagles are planning to boycott as a team. The Eagles, who arrived back in Philadelphia Monday afternoon, did not immediately respond to a request confirming those rumors.
In September, Trump called NFL players who demonstrated against police brutality and racial injustice during the anthem “sons of bitches.”
“We read the news just like everyone else,” Smith said. “They call it the anthem protest. We’re not protesting the anthem. It’s a protest during the anthem.”
Trump congratulated the Eagles on Twitter Sunday night.
The left-leaning champs are among the most socially conscious teams in the NFL. Jenkins, who raised a fist for the national anthem for parts of two years, helped to found the Players Coalition of socially conscious players around the league.
Long was the first white player to cross the color line and participate in the anthem demonstration. For most of the season, he place a hand on Jenkins’s shoulder. He also lobbied lawmakers on criminal justice reform alongside Jenkins, and donated his entire salary this season to create educational opportunities for kids.
Smith was a teammate of Colin Kapernick’s in San Francisco when the QB started the anthem protests. Smith tweeted Monday his decision to boycott Trump “goes beyond politics … I don’t think he’s a good person.”