Trump has it wrong: Eagles disrespect their president, not their country

Erik Brady | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump rescinds Eagles' White House invite, puts NFL owners in tough spot SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Jarrett Bell on why Trump's decision to shut down the Philadelphia Eagles' planned White House visit shouldn't be a surprise and why it's a bad look for the NFL owners.

The Philadelphia Eagles were supposed to be at the White House Tuesday to celebrate their Super Bowl title. It’s one of those Washington traditions that is a sort of win-win for both sides. Presidents and players get to bask in each other’s reflected glory. They are America’s winners – of national elections and national championships – swapping smiles and honorary jerseys.

Ronald Reagan knew how to play that game. Three decades ago, he tossed a perfect pass to Ricky Sanders when feting the Washington NFL team on the South Lawn. A year earlier, Harry Carson dumped a cooler of popcorn on him when the New York Giants visited.

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This feel-good tradition of title teams paying house calls to the People’s House is damn near foolproof. It doesn’t take Reagan’s gift for political theater to master a simple template of genteel rah-rah. Health care is hard; handshakes are easy. But here we go again with another disinvitation of another majority black sports team.

The excluder-in-chief rescinded the Golden State Warriors’ invitation last fall when Stephen Curry balked at visiting. That quickie annulment came around the same time Trump called NFL players SOBs if they kneel during the national anthem. The Warriors’ event simply didn’t happen. This time Trump celebrated the Eagles’ championship without, you know, the Eagles.

“Staying in the Locker Room for the playing of our National Anthem is as disrespectful as kneeling,” Trump tweeted. Never mind that none of the Eagles knelt during the national anthem last season and none stayed in the locker room while it played.

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

The real reason for Trump’s trumped-up political football is found in another part of that tweet, where he said “only a small number of players decided to come.” That’s the heart of it: Trump is the boy who invites the prettiest girl in school to the prom and then uninvites her when he knows she’ll say no.

This all had echoes of Golden State’s circumstance. “Stephen Curry is hesitating,” Trump tweeted then, “therefore invitation is withdrawn!”

Instead when the time came the Warriors visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture, just a bounce pass from the White House. That’s where statues of sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos stand with their gloved hands forever raised. It’s a depiction of their protest during the national anthem at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games.

Smith and Carlos protested racial injustice. Fifty years later, dozens of NFL players protest similar societal ills, but Trump doesn’t want to cast them in bronze. He’d rather cast them out of the country.

The White House maintains the Eagles organization was disingenuous by not saying until late in the game that few players would deign to be there. For Trump – he of small hands and small heart – it’s always about crowd size.

The United States Marine Band played beautifully and stirringly at Tuesday’s event, which the White House called a "Celebration of America." All of which would be wonderful if Trump weren’t weaponizing the anthem in a counterfeit war of his own making. He wraps himself in the flag, the last refuge of a scoundrel, and objects when NFL players do not salute him.

The Trumpian subtext of all this is that the Eagles disrespect the flag, disrespect their country and disrespect the military, none of which is remotely true. Here’s what is: The Eagles, many of them, disrespect their president.

Reagan was a movie star, a headliner who knew how to play off his supporting cast. Trump was a reality-TV star. That’s a different skillset. Reality shows are often about scripted conflict. This is a made-for-TV spectacle in a made-up dust-up where NFL players are cartoon villains and the president is a true-blue hero in his own mind.

White House holds 'Celebration of America' after rescinding Philadelphia Eagles invitation The White House claims the invitation to the Super Bowl champs was canceled after they offered to send "a tiny handful of representatives." Instead, the White House hosted a celebration on the importance of standing for the national anthem and flag.

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