STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Three Eagles Players Are Already Saying They Will Boycott The Team's Visit To Trump's White House

Malcolm Jenkins, Chris Long and Torrey Smith are like thanks, but no thanks.

The Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LII less than 24 hours ago and we already know that three of their players will boycott the team's celebratory visit to President Trump's White House.

Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, defensive end Chris Long and wide receiver Torrey Smith don't want any parts of meeting with the ultra-divisive celebrity-in-chief, who publicly referred to any NFL player who knelt during the national anthem as a "son of a b***h" last year. 

Fresh off the Eagles' Super Bowl win, Jenkins appeared on CNN's New Day on Monday morning and made that clear, saying, "I personally do not anticipate attending that." 

Jenkins added, "My message has been clear all year,” Jenkins said. "I’m about, you know, creating positive change in the communities that I come from, whether it be Philadelphia, New Jersey, Ohio, Louisiana or this entire country. I want to see changes in our criminal justice system. I want to see us push for ... economic and educational advancement in communities of color and low-income communities. And I want to see our relationships between our communities and our law enforcement be advanced."

Watch Jenkins, who raised a fist during the national anthem over parts of this past NFL season, make his comments below.

Long, who placed one hand over his heart, while draping his other arm around Jenkins during the national anthem over parts of this season, wrote off any possibility of himself visiting the White House before the Eagles even won the Super Bowl on Sunday night.

"No, I'm not going to the White House," Long said on the Pardon My Take podcast last week, as reported by BuzzFeed. "Are you kidding me?"

As a member of the New England Patriots last year, Long also skipped the team's celebratory visit to Trump's White House following their Super Bowl LI victory. 

In addition to Jenkins and Long, Smith also is saying thanks, but no thanks to a visit to Trump's White House taking extreme exception to the president spinning players' protests as an anthem protest and not the true issues that players are trying to bring awareness to by kneeling. 

"They call it the anthem protest," Smith told NJ.com last week, as part of him explaining why he would skip a team's visit to the White House. "We're not protesting the anthem. It's a protest during the anthem. I understand why people are mad, or may be offended when someone takes a knee. My father, when he dies, is going to be buried with an American flag draped around his casket, being that he served in the Army."

At this point, we can’t help but wonder how many more Eagles will join Smith, Long and Jenkins in skipping the White House visit.

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.