The Super Bowl-winning quarterback was not present
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Philadelphia Eagles visited the White House Monday, but several key players didn’t make the trip — the main one being Jalen Hurts.
The Eagles quarterback wasn’t present at the team’s Super Bowl celebration because he had a “scheduling conflict,” according to a NBC News White House correspondent. Several other players also missed the event, including wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The Eagles have known since mid-March that the White House celebration would be on April 28.
These were the notable Eagles players who didn’t attend the ceremony: Hurts, Brown, Smith, Jalen Carter, Brandon Graham, Darius Slay, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Zack Baun, Nakobe Dean, Josh Sweat and Nolan Smith. Among the notable players who were present were Saquon Barkley, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Mekhi Becton, Reed Blankenship, Cooper DeJean, and James Bradberry. CBS Sports counted between 20 to 25 Eagles at the event.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, general manager Howie Roseman, head coach Nick Sirianni, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead and senior advisor to the general manager Dom DiSandro were also present.
The fact that Hurts did not attend wasn’t a huge surprise. He had hinted last week that he probably wouldn’t be making the trip.
Hurts was in New York recently for the 2025 TIME100 gala, and while he was walking the red carpet, a reporter asked him if he was “planning on visiting the White House.” Hurts gave about as noncommittal of an answer that you can give to a question like that.
The Super Bowl-winning quarterback offered a simple “um,” before walking away from the reporter after about eight seconds of awkward silence. Although Hurts didn’t say anything during those eight seconds, he did make a few facial expressions that seemed to hint that he would NOT be making the trip to Washington D.C.
Despite not being present, President Donald Trump mentioned the Eagles quarterback when honoring the team for their Super Bowl win.
“Complementing Saquon’s historic season was an incredible year from star quarterback Jalen Hurts,” Trump said. “A terrific guy and a terrific player.”
At the NFL’s annual league meeting earlier this month, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said the White House trip was “optional” for every player on the team, so no one will be punished for missing the event.
“Our culture is that these are optional things,” Lurie said. “If you want to enjoy this, come along and we’ll have a great time. And if you don’t, it is totally an optional thing.”
The Eagles didn’t visit the White House after winning Super Bowl LII in February 2018. That victory came during Donald Trump’s first term in office, and after several players made it clear they would be skipping the event if the Eagles went to the White House, Trump decided to rescind the team’s invitation.
There had been some speculation that the Eagles weren’t going to go this year, but that was quickly cleared up when the team accepted an invite in early March.
“We just felt this is a time honored tradition being invited by the White House,” Lurie said about why his team accepted the invite. “So there was no reticence whatsoever. To be celebrated at the White House is a good thing. There were special circumstances back [in 2018] that were very different, and so this was kind of an obvious choice and look forward to it.”
One Eagles player who was attendance Monday was Barkley. The Eagles running back spent some time with Trump over the weekend at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Trump actually attended Philadelphia’s 40-22 Super Bowl win over Kansas City in February, becoming the first sitting president to attend the NFL’s biggest game.
