Hurts’ absence at the White House is reportedly due to “scheduling conflicts”
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Jalen Hurts will not join his Philadelphia Eagles teammates at the White House on Monday, April 28, according to a new report.
NBC News White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor reported a few hours before the visit that the Eagles quarterback would miss the trip, along with other members of the 2025 Super Bowl championship team.
“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,” Alcindor wrote in a post on X.
“The White House says Hurts and other players who can’t attend had ‘scheduling conflicts,’ ” she added.
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The Eagles are scheduled to visit President Donald Trump at the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl victory from February, a customary practice for the winning teams, but one the team skipped during Trump’s first term.
In 2018, members of the Eagles declined and boycotted their White House appearance after their Super Bowl win. This led Trump to revoke the invitation.
This year, team formally accepted the offer in March after conflicting reports about their plans.
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Hurts was asked if he plans to attend the White House on Thursday, April 24, five days ahead of the visit, and gave an awkward response on the TIME100 Gala red carpet.
When TIME asked if he was joining his other teammates, Hurts said, “Umm,” and looked away from the camera with an uncomfortable expression, mixed with a hesitant smile. He didn’t have anything else to say, prompting the reporter to reply, “Got it. Thank you so much” before the NFL star appeared to walk away.
The news of Hurts’ sitting out on the visit comes just hours after his teammate Saquon Barkley clapped back at critics who slammed him for golfing with Trump over the weekend at the President’s Bedminster, N.J. golf club.
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Barkley, 28, told his followers on X to “get out of my mentions with all this politics” after his social media pages filled with comments from fans calling him out for his actions on Monday, April 28. “Lol some people are really upset cause I played golf and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT,” Barkley, 28, wrote. “Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand. Just golfed with Obama not too long ago…and look forward to finishing my round with Trump!”
