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.
