Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts skips visit with Donald Trump at White House commemorating Super Bowl title

Super Bowl MVP quarterback Jalen Hurts did not visit the White House with his teammates on Monday as the Philadelphia Eagles celebrated their Super Bowl championship with President Donald Trump.

Hurts, who helped lead Philadelphia’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs, did not address why he opted out of the ceremony. White House officials cited “scheduling conflicts” when asked about Hurts’ absence.

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The Eagles are the third championship team to visit the White House in recent weeks, following the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the Ohio State football team, which won the CFP national championship.

The visits mark a return to tradition from Trump’s first term, in which several otherwise routine championship visits to the White House didn’t take place due to refused or rescinded invitations and athletes not wanting to be associated with the Trump administration and its policies.

Eagles visit Trump after not attending in his first term

The Eagles were among the teams that did not visit Trump’s White House during his first term following the franchise’s Super Bowl championship after the 2017 season.

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Several Eagles players from that team reportedly opted not to attend amid Trump’s criticism of NFL players’ protests for social justice reform during pregame renditions of the national anthem. Trump had suggested in a 2017 speech that players who protested during the anthem should be “fired” while suggesting an NFL team owner should “get that son of a b**** off the field right now” if a player “disrespects our flag.”

The Eagles made plans to send a reduced contingent of players amid the opt-outs. Following the news of that plan, Trump rescinded the team’s invitation.

Eagles owner: Attendance was ‘optional’

During a news conference on April 1, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie addressed why his team was visiting Trump’s White House on Monday in the context of 2018’s canceled visit

“To be celebrated at the White House is a good thing,” Lurie told reporters. “There were special circumstances back then that were very different, and so this was kind of an obvious choice and look forward to it.

“When you grow up and you hear about, ‘Oh, the championship team got to go to the White House,’ that’s what this is. And so we didn’t have that opportunity and now we do. I think we’re all looking forward to it.”

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He also told reporters that attendance by players was optional.

“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 released a statement after the visit noting the “long-standing tradition of visiting the White House.”