When President Donald Trump canceled the Eagles’ scheduled visit to the White House earlier this week, the Eagles responded with a statement saying it has been “incredibly thrilling” to celebrate the franchise’s first Super Bowl title.
What the statement didn’t say was anything about the President, the visit to the White House or the President’s assertion that the event was canceled because the team disagrees with his belief that “that they proudly stand for the National Anthem.” The Eagles, who didn’t have any players kneel during the playing of the song in the regular season or playoffs last year, also opted not to issue any official response to the White House’s Tuesday statement saying that they “decided to abandon their fans.”
Coach Doug Pederson had an opportunity to change that when he met with the media on Wednesday morning and faced questions about the tumult. Pederson said that the team’s “true fans” are beside them and that the team itself is “united,” but was otherwise uninterested in further discussion of the matter.
“What you’ve seen and what you’ve heard is enough,” Pederson said.
Many likely share Pederson’s feeling that there’s not anything left to say about either the Eagles’ visit or the anthem issue in general, but it’s unclear if the non-engagement avenue will result in anything different from those who have spent the most time pushing it into the spotlight.