The Philadelphia Eagles visited the White House on Monday in a sports tradition of recent champions. During both of Donald Trump’s presidencies, there’s been players that have opted to skip the visit to the White House. Jalen Hurts opted to forego the Eagles’ visit this year due to a scheduling conflict, according to NBC News.
A White House official confirms to me that @Eagles quarterback @JalenHurts will not be visiting the White House when the Super Bowl champions come later this afternoon. The White House says Hurts and other players who can’t attend had “scheduling conflicts.”
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) April 28, 2025
Not too long ago, Hurts was asked if he was planning on visiting the White House and the conversation got awkward fast. He kind of looked around, had a blank stare and ignored the question. What does that mean? Well as of now, nothing.
But it’s not uncommon for players to pass on the tradition. One player who took the White House visit to a new level was running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley played a round of golf with Donald Trump and even arrived at the White House via helicopter with the 47th President of the United States.
Jalen Hurts passed on the White House visit after leading Philadelphia Eagles to Super Bowl 59 win
Hurts was named Super Bowl MVP after he torched the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans in Super 59 to end the 2024 season. He threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns in the win, while also running for 72 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown.
While Barkley’s regular season and playoff production overshadowed Hurts for much of the season, it was Hurts who came up big in the biggest game of the season. He celebrated, rightfully so, a much-earned championship.
That said, Hurts wasn’t able to celebrate in Washington D.C. with his teammates. This is the first official visit for the Eagles, despite them winning the Super Bowl in 2018 over the New England Patriots.
According to the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, the 2018 team opted to decline the invite to the White House due to some of Trump’s administration’s policies at the time. This year, the team accepted the invite with the tradition being held Monday.
Though no official list of players that attended wasn’t released yet, Hurts reportedly wasn’t the only prominent Philadelphia Eagles player that missed this year’s visit.
The Eagles look to have the same success the Kansas City Chiefs have had in recent years and look to repeat next season. Their defense will look a little different than last year, most notably losing Josh Sweat to the Arizona Cardinals and Brandon Graham to retirement.
That said, Hurts is playing some of his best football the last few seasons. With or without Saquon Barkley, Hurts looks poised to lead the Eagles to back-to-back championships.