Jalen Hurts makes clear message about White House event absence

Jalen Hurts is breaking his silence on his absence from the Philadelphia Eagles' White House visit.  The Eagles were invited to the White House — as most championship teams are — to celebrate their Super Bowl win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

However, Hurts, along with at least 12 other Eagles players, were noticeably absent from the visit. While speaking with the media on Tuesday, May 20, Hurts explained why he was not at the event.

“I wasn’t available,” Hurts said. “I don’t think that’s pertinent. Everyone who went, and was available, they seemed to enjoy themselves.”

Along with Hurts, 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 did not attend the event. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, head coach Nick Sirianni, and team owner Howie Roseman represented the leadership role of the team as other players joined in on the visit.

Barkley received backlash for attending the White House visit and he made a statement following the comments. Before the visit, he also went golfing with President Donald Trump.

“lol some people are really upset cause I played golfed and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT. 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!” Barkley said. “Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have amazing day.”

This is the first time that Hurts has responded to the question because during the TIME100 Gala red carpet last month, he decided to just smile and not answer the question. At the time of visit, NBC News White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor announced on Monday (April 28) that Hurts and others would not be in attendance due to “scheduling conflicts.”

“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.

What Have Others Said About Jalen Hurts Absence?

Former Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins spoke out about Hurts' absence.

“The team had framed the White House visit as optional,” Jenkins, who retired from the NFL in March 2022, wrote in a Substack post about the team's visit. “But leadership is never optional. When you’re the quarterback — the face of the team — your presence, or your absence, always says something. By choosing not to go, Jalen didn’t just make a personal decision. He made a public one.”

Last month's visit was the first time that the Eagles attended the White House, as they previously declined the offer when they won the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots in 2018. Jenkins' position on the absence of Hurts align with what he said when he was invited back in 2018.

“I don't want to take away from anybody's experience or make it a big distraction. It's a celebratory event, and I want the guys who choose to go or whatever to enjoy that,” Jenkins said in 2018. “Me personally, because it's not a meeting or a sit-down or anything like that, I'm just not interested in the photo op.”

“Over the last two years, I've been meeting with legislators, both Republican and Democrat, it don't matter. If you want to meet to talk about events in my community, changing the country, I'm all for that. But this isn't one of those meetings, so I'll opt out of the photo opportunity,” he added.

President Trump, who was in his first term in office at the time, ended up revoking the invitation in 2018 when only a small number of the players confirmed they would attend.