Jalen Hurts has broken his silence after he missed the Eagles’ White House visit last month.
Hurts, Philly’s Super Bowl MVP as they beat the Chiefs in February, was one of several Eagles players to skip out on meeting President Donald Trump because of ‘scheduling conflicts’ as NBC News’s Yamiche Alcindor reported at the time.
And this week, the quarterback expanded upon his decision to not attend the April 28 trip.
‘I wasn’t available,’ he told reporters. ‘I don’t think that’s pertinent. Everyone who went, and was available, they seemed to enjoy themselves.’
Hurts was far from the only Eagles star to miss the trip, as the likes of A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Jalen Carter were also not in attendance.
All told, NBC Sports’ John Clark said that less than half of the team’s starters were there.
Hurts gave a pretty strong clue ahead of the White House visit that he would not be in attendance, as he was asked during an interview with TIME if he was planning on going to DC for the trip.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts did not attend he team’s trip to the White House
His teammate Saquon Barkley spent time with President Trump before and during the visit
Coach Nick Sirianni was among those in attendance as he shook hands with President Trump
‘Ermmmm,’ he said before staying silent, prompting an abrupt and awkward end to the interview.
Meanwhile, star running back Saquon Barkley, offensive lineman Lane Johnson and head coach Nick Sirianni were among those in attendance, as well as owner Jeffrey Lurie and chief security officer and senior advisor to the GM ‘Big’ Dom DiSandro.
Barkley even spent time with Trump at his Trump National golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey during the weekend propr and traveled with the President on Marine One.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who also attended, insisted beforehand that every player would be given the choice of whether to attend or not.
‘Our culture is that these are optional things,’ Lurie said. ‘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.’
The quarterback led the Philadelphia Eagles to victory at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans
The Eagles’ visit to the White House this year comes after the team did not make the trip after winning Super Bowl LII 2018.
That time, after defeating the Patriots, it had emerged that only a handful of players were planning to attend. Trump, then in his first term as president, proceeded to cancel the visit.
The Eagles’ hesitancy to attend in that instance came after Trump took aim at players who had protested during the national anthem, a group of players which included Eagles Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod.
However, Trump enjoyed a more positive relationship with the league’s players this past season, as the likes of Brock Bowers, Calvin Ridley and Nick Bosa did the ‘Trump dance ‘ during games.
