By The Philadelphia Eagles would be honored to visit the White House in celebration of their Super Bowl LIX win, a source with the team told CNN after rumors swept social media that the team had declined the traditional visit.
Contrary to reports, the invitation has not yet been extended to the team, the source said.
“We would be honored to visit the White House,” the source with the Eagles said. “It’s one of the things we had looked forward to doing and we look forward to receiving the invitation.”
The Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this month in a blowout to win the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship. When the team won its first championship in 2018, the Eagles decided not to celebrate the championship with President Donald Trump, who was in his first term in office at that point.
The decision sparked a storm of criticism from Trump, who falsely accused the Eagles of taking a knee during “The Star-Spangled Banner” that year and disrespecting the National Anthem in other ways before uninviting the whole team.
It was a decision that echoed the Golden State Warriors, who had decided in 2017 not to visit Trump in the White House after winning the 2016-17 NBA championship. The Warriors and Eagles were not alone in their decisions to skip the White House visit during Trump’s first term and the decisions were often fraught, with the president laying into players and teams on social media for declining to attend.
The decision to visit the White House became less of a fraught issue during former President Joe Biden’s term in office and Biden played host to numerous championship teams and generally did not engage in any sparring with squads that didn’t make the trip.
Trump’s attendance at Super Bowl LIX made him a focus of the lead up to the game. Eagles’ offensive lineman Lane Johnson told Sportico that the decision on whether to visit the White House would be 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,” Johnson said.
Head coach Nick Sirianni said in the postgame press conference that a potential White House visit was not on his mind and he was much more focused on celebrating the win in New Orleans and then back home in Philadelphia at the parade.
“We’ll see as we as we go. We’re gonna enjoy this tonight and we’ll enjoy it tomorrow and we’ll enjoy it the next day,” Sirianni said in response to a reporter’s question about Johnson’s statement on a White House visit.
“We don’t have to get ready for another game soon. Can’t wait to celebrate this with the guys and celebrate this with my family.”
CNN’s Kyle Feldscher contributed to this report.
