After rumors flooded social media weeks ago that the Philadelphia Eagles had declined an invitation to the White House to celebrate the team’s Super Bowl LIX victory, a team spokesman finally confirmed they would head to Washington DC to meet the president.
“I know there was a lot of fake news about an invitation that wasn’t sent or was sent, we want to correct the record: we sent an invitation, they enthusiastically accepted, and you will see them here on April 28,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
That was the absolute wrong decision.
We are living in a country where lives are being destroyed, history is being erased, education is being dismantled, necessities and civil rights are being snatched away and fascism is steadily taking over.
This was a moment for sports, specifically the Eagles, to take a stand for everyone and say “Enough!”
Instead, they acquiesced to a president who is destroying democracy, institutions and rights that leaders, organizations and individuals have worked so hard to build and maintain.
The team should have mirrored the decision of the Super Bowl LII winning team and declined the invitation in the name of equal rights and humanity.
Team leaders should have reflected on the statement made at that time by former Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins and stayed home.
“I don’t want to take away from anybody’s experience or make it a big distraction. It’s a celebratory event, and I want the guys who choose to go or whatever to enjoy that,” said Jenkins in 2018. “Me personally, because it’s not a meeting or a sit-down or anything like that, I’m just not interested in the photo op.
“Over the last two years, I’ve been meeting with legislators, both Republican and Democrat, it don’t matter. If you want to meet to talk about events in my community, changing the country, I’m all for that. But this isn’t one of those meetings, so I’ll opt out of the photo opportunity.”
If some players want to go because they either believe in the view of Charles Barkley to respect the office of the president regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, or they support T****, then let them go. If the president decides to withdraw the invitation because only a few would be attending, like he said he did in 2018 when that happened, then so be it.
But the time we’re in right now demands action regardless of political affiliation, gender or skin color.
What this administration is doing is blatant; anyone who has read Project 2025 understands that and knows that T**** lied when he said he wasn’t familiar with the project for he’s carrying it out step by step. The latest is the firing of 50% of the Department of Education, which will harm all levels of education, particularly in inner cities like Philadelphia.
For a team that gives back to communities in need across the City of Brotherly Love, this was the moment to stand up for them.
For a team that is working to stem gun violence across the city through its Social Justice Fund, which is funded by donations from the team and its players, this was the moment to stand up for those suffering from gun violence and the refusal by the current administration to institute meaningful gun legislation.
For a player like Jalen Hurts, who donated $200,000 to secure air conditioners for schools across the city, this was the moment to stand up for public education.
Even if the team said they were staying home because the president picked the Chiefs to beat them, that would be impactful, as petty as it sounds.
They could have even gone further and rationalized their decision to stay home due to the MAGA-supporting antics of many associated with the Chiefs, including Patrick Mahomes’ mother.
Some, of course, will say “Keep politics out of sports,” but those are the same ones who most likely supported T****’s decision to attend the Super Bowl, becoming the first sitting president to do so.
And don’t think that sports aren’t being impacted by his effort to distract from his destruction of Biden’s great economy through vicious and unnecessary culture wars and his horrendous and embarrassing alienation of allies through ignorant rhetoric and foolish trade wars.
Look at how the National Anthem was booed in Canada during the 4 Nations Face-Off. Watch the cost of sporting goods like Topgolf Calloway Brands, which sources some parts from China, start to rise.
Philadelphia had the chance to take a stand for everyone impacted by this administration but didn’t.
Sports has so much power to fight back against the atrocities we’re all witnessing due to T****, Elon Musk and this administration, and when it has wielded it in the past, it brought change.
The Eagles have chosen to ignore that power, so hope for change gets penalized again.
