Forever Our MVP: Jalen Hurts Skips Trump’s White House Visit After Eagles’ Super Bowl Win – Essence
As if we needed another reason to love Jalen Hurts (the list is already long, y’all).
The Eagles quarterback showed us all why he will forever be our MVP, when he decided to skip Monday’s White House celebration with President Trump due to “scheduling conflicts.” Several other players reportedly skipped out on the event as well for similar reasons (which they’ve all known since mid-March).
Hurts didn’t need to spell it out for us. The message was crystal clear when he was first asked at the 2025 TIME100 gala, with an “umm” that was heard around the world.
That “umm” spoke volumes. In a world where Black athletes are constantly told to just “shut up and play,” Hurts made his position known without giving critics ammunition.
Let’s add Hurts to a long lineage of Black athletes who have used their platforms for political protest. From Muhammad Ali’s refusal of the draft, to Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists at the 1968 Olympics, to Colin Kaepernick taking a knee, all of these individuals have cemented their legacy of not just being athletes, but advocates for Black rights in times that feel all too familiar today.
And then, there’s Saquon Barkley.
The contrast between Hurts and his teammate couldn’t be more stark. While Hurts quietly declined the invitation, Barkley was photographed with Trump at the president’s Bedminster golf club just a day before the scheduled White House visit. When fans called him out, Barkley took to social media to defend himself.
“lol some people are really upset cause I played golfed and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT,” Barkley wrote on X. “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 ! Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have amazing day.”
It’s worth noting that Hurts has never shied away from connecting with political figures he respects. Last October, he joined a golf foursome with former President Obama and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie.
Trump attended Philadelphia’s 40-22 Super Bowl win over Kansas City in February, becoming the first sitting president to attend the NFL’s biggest game.
The irony isn’t lost on us. The same president who once called NFL players who kneel during the national anthem “sons of bitches” and suggested they should be fired, showed up to bask in the glory of a game dominated by Black athletes. And now he expects those same players to smile for photo ops in the Rose Garden? We’ve seen this before.
Still in his newlywed era, this all comes just a week after news broke that Hurts married his longtime girlfriend, Bryonna Burrows, earlier this year.
Drafted in 2020, Hurts has proven time and again he’s more than just a playmaker, but a leader who stands his ground. From overcoming the shocking benching at Alabama to becoming one of the NFL’s premier dual-threat quarterbacks, he’s shown time and again that he knows how to rise to any challenge.
