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| - Rumors that Super Bowl LIX champions the Philadelphia Eagles declined an invitation to visit U.S. President Donald Trump's White House spread on the internet in February 2025.
Posts across social media platforms like X (archived), Threads (archived) and Instagram (archived) alleged that the champs were invited to Washington, D.C., to celebrate their victory but refused to attend. The prevalence of the rumor led readers to flood the Snopes inbox questioning the veracity of the claim.
However, rumors that the Super Bowl champs had declined an invitation to visit the White House were false.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the White House directed Snopes to this post on X (archived) from the founder of conservative sports media outlet Outkick, Clay Travis, and confirmed Travis' reporting was accurate.
Travis wrote, "White House source: the Philadelphia Eagles have not rejected a White House invite. The reports that have gone viral on social media are fake news. The White House has not even sent the official invite to the Eagles yet."
Snopes reached out to the communications team for the Philadelphia Eagles for comment, as well, and will update this article if new information becomes available.
However, Adam Schefter, ESPN's Senior NFL Insider, posted on X (archived), "To those wondering: Eagles sources say the team is planning on visiting the White House this off-season and looks forward to receiving its invitation." Further, CBS Sports, ESPN and Axios also reported that the rumor about the Eagles declining an invitation was false.
The rumor appeared to begin with a Feb. 6, 2025, article by the U.S. Sun, a tabloid paper owned by News Corp. The article claimed:
However, a well-placed insider told The U.S. Sun that recent discussions between the players and the Eagles front office resulted in a "massive no" when asked if they would accept an invitation to the nation's capital.
"We focus on the game for now, but if we win the Super Bowl, we wouldn't go to the White House," a member of the ownership group told The U.S. Sun.
A current player echoed those sentiments, claiming that "pretty much everyone" decided they would refuse to meet the President.
"We represent a city and a state that is pushing for equal rights, respect, and values that respect every human being," said the Eagles star, who also spoke anonymously.
"We won't forget what happened and the criticism we received for taking a stand against racism, and we won't back down from our values of respect, integrity, and equality."
Though this particular rumor proved false, speculation was not unfounded. During Trump's first term, the president rescinded his invitation to the Eagles after they were victorious against the New England Patriots in 2018's Super Bowl LII.
According to a post from Trump's X account on June 4, 2018 (archived), the president said, "The Philadelphia Eagles Football Team was invited to the White House. Unfortunately, only a small number of players decided to come, and we canceled the event. Staying in the Locker Room for the playing of our National Anthem is as disrespectful to our country as kneeling. Sorry!"
The Philadelphia Eagles Football Team was invited to the White House. Unfortunately, only a small number of players decided to come, and we canceled the event. Staying in the Locker Room for the playing of our National Anthem is as disrespectful to our country as kneeling. Sorry!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2018
As referenced in his 2018 post, Trump was vocal about a new policy at the NFL that allowed players the option to remain in the locker room during the performance of the United States' national anthem.
The policy was created in reaction to players kneeling during "The Star-Spangled Banner" in protest of police brutality against Black Americans, started by Colin Kaepernick during the NFL's 2016 preseason.
The Associated Press reported Trump's comments from an Alabama rally in 2017:
Trump says those players are disrespecting the flag and deserve to lose their jobs.
"That's a total disrespect of our heritage. That's a total disrespect of everything that we stand for," he said, encouraging owners to act.
"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you'd say, 'Get that son of a b**** off the field right now. Out! He's fired," Trump said to loud applause.
After the 2018 invitation was rescinded, the White House held its own "celebration" and news conference, in which then Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "The Eagles were the ones that tried to change their commitment at the 11th hour and the president frankly thinks that the fans deserve better than that and therefore we changed the ceremony to be a focus on celebrating our great country."
The Philadelphia Eagles were not the only championship team that didn't receive or lost an invite to the White House during Trump's first term. As USA Today reported, neither the 2018 NBA champs the Golden State Warriors nor the 2018 WNBA champs the Seattle Storm, among others, were invited to the White House during that time.
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