Eagles Players Are Already Refusing White House Visit

Eagles player, Chris Long

Resistance to Der Trumpenführer takes many forms and just hours after last night's welcomed triumph over the New England Patriots, several players for the victorious Eagles have announced that they will boycott the traditional visit to the White House which is now occupied by an individual with about as much moral character as Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars franchise. I applaud the boycott and believe that every patriotic American has a duty to do all in their power to minimize the normalization and legitimacy of the Trump/Pence regime which is nothing less than a blight on the nation.  A piece in New York Magazine looks at the boycott which will surely grow: 

For Americans who are not fans of the New England Patriots or their favorite politician, Super Bowl LII was a relief; unlike last year, they did not have to watch Tom Brady claw his way back to a victory, while simultaneously experiencing flashbacks of election night 2016. But politics was still present at the big game, from the outrage over Dodge using a Martin Luther King Jr. speech to sell trucks to Breitbart’s decision to mark the occasion with a racist tweet.

President Trump broke with a decade of tradition, opting not to give NBC a pre-Super Bowl interview (possibly because it’s one of his most hated networks). Of course, he could not resist the urge to reference one of his favorite controversies . . . . Trump did manage to briefly act like a normal president after the game, congratulating the Eagles without lamenting his pal Tom Brady’s loss.

But there’s no offseason for Trump’s feuds. Several Eagles players have already said they intend to boycott the winning team’s traditional trip to the White House.

No one on the Eagles sat or knelt during the national anthem this season, but several players raised their fists in protest, including Malcolm Jenkins, Torrey Smith, and Rodney McLeod. Jenkins led the Players Coalition, which secured a commitment from the NFL to provide $89 million over seven years to groups fighting inequality.

Chris Long, who is white, voiced support for his teammates’ protests throughout the season. “For me, being from Charlottesville, no one wants to see you sit idly by and watch that stuff happen and not say anything,” Long said in the aftermath of the deadly white supremacist demonstration in his hometown. “And I wish there was more categorical denial from some very important people in this country who have had the opportunity to strike it down but didn’t.”

Last week Long became the first Eagles player to announce he would boycott the celebration with Trump. “No, I’m not going to the White House,” he said on the Pardon My Take podcast. “Are you kidding me?”

[P]lenty of players decided to boycott Trump last year, even before he spent half a season accusing NFL players of being unpatriotic for exercising their right to protest. The list of players boycotting this year’s White House event will almost certainly grow.