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After winning the Super Bowl on Sunday night, the Philadelphia Eagles are now set to visit the White House to celebrate their victory.
But not all of the Eagles are going.
On Monday, safety Malcolm Jenkins told CNN, “I personally do not anticipate attending.”
Defensive end Chris Long, who boycotted last year’s White House visit with the Patriots, said he plans to sit out this year as well.
“No, I’m not going to the White House. Are you kidding me?” he said during an interview on Pardon My Take Podcast last Sunday when asked whether he would go this time.
LeGarrette Blount, also a former Patriot, skipped last year too. “I just don’t feel welcome into that house. I’m just gonna leave it at that,” he said at the time.
–#FreeMeekMill revived after Eagles use the rapper’s song for Super Bowl entrance–
Trump v. the NFL
Wide receiver Torrey Smith, who along with Jenkins raised his fist during the national anthem, said that he wasn’t happy about Donald Trump‘s ongoing war against NFL players’ protests.
“We read the news just like everyone else,” Smith said on Wednesday. “You see Donald Trump tweet something … We have those conversations in the locker room, just like everyone else does in the workplace. We’re very informed about what goes on, and we’re trying to continue to educate ourselves.”
“They call it the anthem protest,” he added. “We’re not protesting the anthem. It’s a protest during the anthem. I understand why people are mad, or may be offended when someone takes a knee. My father, when he dies, is going to be buried with an American flag draped around his casket, being that he served in the Army.”
Trump has continued to lambast NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, going so far as to suggest that the NFL should fire any players who do so.
It’s no wonder, then, that the players he’s criticizing don’t feel welcome in his White House.