NFL star snubs White House visit over 'scheduling conflict' as Eagles celebrate Super Bowl win

American football player Jalen Hurts was absent from the White House as his team celebrated their Super Bowl championship because of a “scheduling conflict”.

Quarterback Hurts was among several Eagles players who chose to skip the visit to the White House on Monday (28 April), where the champions were celebrated by US president Donald Trump.

“The Eagles have turned out to be an incredible team, an incredible group,” Trump said at the event.

According to reports, the team has known since mid-March the date of their White House celebration, leading to speculation over the choice of many players not to go.

Other team members who didn’t attend include AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Brandon Graham, NBC Sports Philadelphiarevealed.

In a post on X/Twitter, Yamiche Alcindor, the White House Correspondent for NBC News confirmed: “A White House official confirms to me that Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts 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’.”

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie previously said the visit was optional.

“Our culture is that these are optional things,” Lurie said. “If you want to enjoy this, come along and we’ll have a great time and if you don’t, it is totally an optional thing.”

Getty Images

Last week, Hurts was asked by TIME magazine if he planned on visiting the White House. He said, “Erm”, and then walked away.

The last time the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018, Trump was also in office in his first term as president.

At the time, he disinvited the team from the traditional White House celebration after many players said they would drop out amid tension and attacks around players taking the knee during the national anthem in protest against police brutality and racism.

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