A Dozen Philadelphia Eagles Players Skip White House Visit with Donald Trump

• Jalen Hurts and 11 other Eagles players were not in attendance at the White House on April 28
• Additional players who opted out include DeVonta Smith, Darius Slay and A.J. Brown
• Hurts hinted at declining the invitation during an interview at the TIME 100 Gala

Jalen Hurts was not the only Philadelphia Eagles player to opt out of celebrating the team’s Super Bowl win with President Donald Trump at the White House.

Following the Eagles’ visit on Monday, April 28, a list of 11 other players who were not in attendance was released by NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark.

The additional players who did not attend are A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Brandon Graham, Nolan Smith, Zack Baun, Nakobe Dean, CJ Gardner Johnson, Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell.

During his speech, President Trump praised the team, especially running back Saquon Barkley — who defended himself on Monday against backlash following his golf outing with Trump — and took a jab at Taylor Swift over the Chiefs’ loss in the 2025 Super Bowl.

Hurts, 26, did not attend the annual ceremony that honors the championship team — and he hinted at his game plan last week.

While at the TIME 100 gala, the Super Bowl MVP dodged a TIME reporter’s question about whether he would attend. “Umm,” he said, while on the red carpet on Thursday, April 24. He then looked away from the camera with an uncomfortable expression, mixed with a hesitant smile. 

Despite the team formally accepting the offer to attend the celebration last month, it was not clear if the entire team would attend or if some players would skip the event.

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One player who was sure to make the trip was running back Saquon Barkley, who spent the previous day with Trump at his Bedminster, N.J. golf club and then returned with him to the White House aboard Air Force One.

Barkley pushed back on criticism of his association with Trump on Twitter on Monday. “Lol some people are really upset cause I played golf and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT,” Barkley, 28, wrote. “Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand. Just golfed with Obama not too long ago…and look forward to finishing my round with Trump!”

He concluded with a crying-laughing emoji: “Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have an amazing day.”

Hours before the celebration was set to start on Monday, footage of a bus and several smaller vehicles approaching 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was posted on social media by a White House correspondent.

NBC News reporter Yamiche Alcindor reported a few hours before the visit that the Eagles quarterback would miss the trip, along with other members of the 2025 Super Bowl championship team.

“A White House official confirms to me that Eagles quarterback JalenHurts will not be visiting the White House when the Super Bowl champions come later this afternoon,” Alcindor wrote in a post on X.

“The White House says Hurts and other players who can’t attend had ‘scheduling conflicts,’ ” she added.

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie previously gave his blessing to those who may have seemingly found the moment too political, telling reporters that the appearance was voluntary.

“Our culture is that these are optional things,” Lurie said about the White House visit. “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.”