Now that the Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl champions, players are planning to boycott the White House visit if they’re invited.
Winning a championship in sports in this politically charged era means more than simply hoisting a trophy. It means deciding whether or not you want to take a stand and send a message of protest to Washington by boycotting the White House visit that teams usually make after winning a title.
After winning Super Bowl 52, many Philadelphia Eagles players need to make that decision. Some already have.
Chris Long, Malcolm Jenkins, and Torrey Smith have all come forward and said they will not be attending the White House visit if Donald Trump extends an invitation. Long, who has been one of the only white athletes to protest during the National Anthem this year, has unequivocally said he will skip the visit.
“I’m not going to the White House,” he said on Pardon My Take. “Are you kidding me?”
Long has played this entire NFL season free of charge, choosing to donate his salary to Philadelphia charities. It’s hard to sit at home in a food-stained jersey and mumble about how he needs to honor the office when Long hasn’t earned a dime for his work this year. He’s also been a vocal supporter of Colin Kaepernick, going as far as to scold knuckle-draggers for trying to use him to slander Kaepernick’s activism.
Boycotting the White House visit isn’t anything new. Tom Brady skipped the Patriots visit last year and Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas refused to attend back in 2012. Not many people raised a stink about it then, but it’s not hard to figure out what those two men have in common with one another.
The backlash against black athletes for protesting oppression, and choosing to do so during the National Anthem, has been eye-opening for the country. Lines have been drawn in the sand and every Sunday turned into a ‘sitting around the Thanksgiving table’ quality discussion about race relations and politics.
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Not every Eagles player will skip the visit, but there will be a handful who decide to voice a protest. It’s going to be interesting to see what the reaction to that is and why the reaction is what it is.