Sports

Eagles Coach Was ‘Looking Forward’ To White House Visit

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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Vandana Rambaran Political Reporter
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Doug Pederson, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, was “looking forward” to being recognized by the White House for his NFL team’s Super Bowl win but “it is what it is,” he said Wednesday.

“It’s over, it’s behind us, we’re moving on,” he said during a media briefing at the NovaCare Complex in South Philadelphia on Wednesday.

He could not speak for the team’s players who refused to attend a White House reception to honor the Eagles, but said he “was looking forward to going down and being recognized as world champions.”

President Donald Trump rescinded an invitation to the Eagles on Monday after the majority of the team opted not to attend the celebration. Eagles players disagree with the president’s policy of standing for the national anthem during games and support NFL players’ right to kneel as a protest to police brutality against African Americans, according to statements by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday. (RELATED: Trump Cancels Eagles Reception Over National Anthem Protests)

“Unfortunately, the Eagles offered to send only a tiny handful of representatives, while making clear that the great majority of players would not attend the event, despite planning to be in D.C. today. In other words, the vast majority of the Eagles team decided to abandon their fans,” said Sanders.

Trump still extended the invite to the fans to come to the White House on Tuesday and “to be part of a different type of ceremony—one that will honor our great country, pay tribute to the heroes who fight to protect it, and loudly and proudly play the National Anthem,” he said in a tweet on Monday.

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