The Eagles will be visiting the White House later this month. Whether all of the Eagles will be visiting the White House remains to be seen.
On Tuesday, owner Jeffrey Lurie emphasized that each player must decide whether he wants to go.
“Our culture is that these are optional things,” Lurie told reporters. “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.”
It could never be mandatory, at least not within the confines of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. But certain things that aren’t mandatory as a technical matter can become mandatory as a practical matter. Lurie seems to be one of the owners who will truly let the players decide what to do, without pressure of any kind.
For Lurie, the choice was made to accept the invitation to attend.
“We just felt this is a time honored tradition being invited by the White House,” Lurie said. “So there was no reticence whatsoever. To be celebrated at the White House is a good thing. There were special circumstances [in 2018] that were very different, and so this was kind of an obvious choice and look forward to it. . . .
“When you grow up and you hear about, ‘Oh, the championship team got to go to the White House,’ that’s what this is. And so we didn’t have that opportunity and now we do. I think we’re all looking forward to it.”
What would Lurie say to fans who don’t want the Eagles to embrace the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
“This is really just an invitation from the White House,” Lurie said. “That’s all this is, and we’re not politicizing it in any way. Not for us.”
It was political in 2018, given the back and forth over protests during the national anthem. The Eagles were invited. And then it became clear plenty of the players wouldn’t go. And then they were uninvited.
Currently, it’s unclear whether and to what extent Eagles players will choose to go or to not go. With the visit nearly four weeks away, it’s possible that something that happens between now and then will impact the final decision(s) made by one or more players.
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