The Philadelphia Eagles skipped a visit to the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl victory in 2018, choosing to snub then-President Donald Trump.
Snubbing Trump and other public acts of defiance were all the rage during his first term, but things have changed. Now, everyone from billionaire CEOs to Super Bowl champions are reportedly lining up to bend the knee.
According to sports reporting site Outkick, a source at the Eagles said the team “would be honored to visit the White House.”
“It’s one of the things we had looked forward to doing, and we look forward to receiving that information,” the source reportedly said.
The team declined the offer in 2018 over Trump’s opposition to players kneeling during the National Anthem, which was used at the time as a silent protest against police brutality, especially against minorities.
After learning that the team was planning to boycott the visit, the White House rescinded its invitation.
Rumors were reportedly swirling on social media that the Eagles had once again rejected their invitation, but Clay Travis, Outkick’s founder, said that the reports were “fake news” and that Eagles hadn’t yet received an invitation.
That changed on Tuesday when a reporter asked Trump if he planned to invite the Eagles to the White House.
“They will be. We haven’t yet, but we will be,” Trump said.
The president went on to praise the team’s performance at the Super Bowl.
“I thought it was a great performance by them, and absolutely they’ll they’ll be extended that invitation,” Trump said, according to CNN. “We’ll do it right away, we’re gonna do it sometime today, and they deserve to be down here. We hope to see them.”
A number of Trump supporters were furious after the rumor began circulating that the team was going to skip the White House visit, including Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who now hosts a conservative podcast.
She said she rooted for the Eagles to beat the Kansas City Chiefs during this year’s Super Bowl, but became irate when she bought into the reports that the team was snubbing Trump again.
Another user who believed the rumors said they wish they hadn’t backed the Eagles, and Kelly agreed.
“SAME. GO F YOURSELVES EAGLES,” she wrote.
She said she jumped on the Eagles bandwagon because her husband, Doug Brunt, is a fan.
“But F this BS,” she said.
Kelly updated her X page on Monday, noting that the White House hadn’t sent out invitations and hoping that the reports of a snub were “fake news.”
The rumor appears to have been started by the US Sun, which earlier this month cited a “well-placed insider” who reportedly told the paper the team had decided to again decline an invite to the White House.
“We focus on the game for now, but if we win the Super Bowl, we wouldn’t go to the White House,” the source reportedly told the Sun at the time.
The paper also cited a current player who allegedly said that “pretty much everyone” on the team decided against taking the invitation, if it were offered.
“We represent a city and a state that is pushing for equal rights, respect, and values that respect every human being,” the player reportedly said. “We won’t forget what happened and the criticism we received for taking a stand against racism, and we won’t back down from our values of respect, integrity, and equality.”
These quotes — including the source cited by Outkick — are all attributed to anonymous individuals. They may be accurate and something may have changed since that report, or they may inaccurate.
All that’s known for certain is that Trump plans to extend the invite. Once the Eagles have the ball, they’ll have to decide what to do with it.
