Crossing Broad
The Eagles Nation Twitter account kicked up a hornet’s nest on Sunday night after sharing this three-week old, pre-Super Bowl article from a British tabloid:
According to “a well-placed insider,” discussions between #Eagles players and their front office resulted in a “massive no” when asked if they would accept an invitation to the White House to honor their Super Bowl Victory, per @TheSun. pic.twitter.com/WOSCa4ZQ3C
— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) February 23, 2025
There’s been no official confirmation that the Eagles are going or aren’t going to the White House, or that an invite was even extended.
The notable, post-Super Bowl White House reporting is from Sportico, in which Lane Johnson, Josh Sweat, and Zack Baun are quoted:
Eagles captain and right tackle Lane Johnson says the decision to go to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue if offered will come down to a team vote. “I’d be honored to go, regardless of who the president is, but we’ll see. It’s ultimately a team decision. I’ll do what’s best for the team.”
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“It’s a great honor, but I’m looking forward to this (championship) parade more than anything,” Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat said after the game.
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“I feel like it’s something that the teams have always done,” Eagles linebacker Zack Baun said. “I’m excited for any opportunity to celebrate this win.”
The thing about the White House visit is that they’re gonna piss off someone no matter what they end up doing. If they go to the White House, they’ve upset the liberal portion of the fan base, which thinks Trump is a big ‘ole piece of shit. If they don’t go the White House, they’ve angered conservative fans and insulted their President.
So naturally you ask yourself is there’s a third option here, which is one of neutrality. Is there a way to navigate this without it becoming a partisan political issue and/or distracting dog and pony show?
Sort of, theoretically.
Lane touches on it when he talks about being “honored to go, regardless of the who the president is,” and that’s how we used to look at sports trips to the White House. It didn’t matter if a Republican or Democrat was in office at the time, because it wasn’t a political event. It was a championship team being received in Washington for the purpose of recognition and honor. When the Phillies were welcomed by President Obama, he didn’t talk about anything political, maybe one side comment about he himself being a general election underdog, but it was relatively straightforward and fair. It was his first year in office and we were coming through a bad recession, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had just been taken over by the government and the roots of the Occupy Wall Street movement were burgeoning underground. He could have spun off in a number of directions and mentioned any of those things but kept the focus on the assembled team and the coaching...
