There had been great speculation that the Philadelphia Eagles could skip the customary visit to the White House this year with Donald Trump in office.
Yet, despite the rumors swirling around, the Eagles accepted an invitation from the president to celebrate their Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
And, following the franchise’s past tumultuous relationship with the current Commander-in-Chief, head coach Nick Sirianni has revealed how he feels about the upcoming trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on April 28.
‘I’m really excited to go, yeah. What an honor. What an honor to be able to go to the White House,’ he said this week, via Fox news.
‘Teams that have been able to win championships have been doing that for a long time, and I’m really honored to go and really excited to go.’
Following their victory – a resounding 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs – there had been speculation that the Eagles would turn down the traditional audience with the president at the White House.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has revealed how he feels about the White House visit
The Super Bowl champions are slated to visit President Trump on April 28
Read More Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes’ Donald Trump White House visit hits a snag 
But it later emerged that the team would be ‘honored’ to visit Trump’s White House with the president subsequently instructing his aides to send the invitation at the end of February.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed that the visit would take place on April 28.
It will mark the team’s first visit to the White House during a Trump presidency after an invitation during the president’s first term ended in controversy.
After their 2018 Super Bowl win – their first in franchise history – some Eagles players said they wouldn’t attend the White House celebration because of Trump’s criticism of football players who kneeled or raised their fists during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice and police brutality.
At a 2017 rally, Trump said that the protests were ‘hurting the game,’ and said NFL owners should fire players who did so.
Malcolm Jenkins, then of the Eagles, was among the NFL players at the time to protest, as he would raise his fist during the anthem. Rodney McLeod did the same.
Ultimately, the Eagles had decided on sending a small group of less than 10 players – as NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported at the time.
In response, Trump rescinded the invite to the team and held a patriotic celebration instead.
The Chiefs’ visit was stopped in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic – meaning Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and the team never made the trip to D.C. after they beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20, just weeks before lockdown.
Trump has since announced plans to also welcome the Chiefs this summer, five years later, to celebrate their victory.
