The Philadelphia Eagles thought they’d found a way to disrespect President Donald Trump.

But guess what?

He didn’t allow it to happen.

Instead, the American president put American pride, patriotism and protocol first.

The White House announced Monday night that the previously scheduled visit to the White House by the defending Super Bowl champs had been canceled and that most of the team had chosen to boycott it — all because President Trump wants NFL players to respect the American flag and stand during the national anthem.

A White House press release indicated that members of the team (players, coaches, management, and support personnel) were scheduled to visit the White House on Tuesday — and that Secret Service had cleared them to attend. However, later in the day on Friday, the team had told the White House that many players would not be attending and had requested, instead, to reschedule the event.

Ultimately, the Eagles were only going to send a few people from the team. As the White House press release put it, “In other words, the vast majority of the Eagles team decided to abandon their fans.”

The New York Times reported that fewer than 10 players had been expected to attend if the event occurred today.

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So Trump held a different kind of event at the White House today — one far more patriotic.

The White House said the 1,000 fans who had wanted to see the Eagles were invited instead for an event “to celebrate America.”

The United States Marine Band and United States Army Chorus were present and performed for the crowd.

An invitation to the White House is an honor most Americans will never have in their lifetimes — yet a majority of the Eagles blew that chance for everyone else on the team.

The players could have had a friendly and cordial conversation with the country’s sitting president during their visit. They could have talked calmly and reasonably about any number of issues in the time they would have had with the chief executive.

However, these players decided to take a nonpartisan invitation and try to turn it into a partisan situation. Plenty of teams have visited the Trump White House without much issue — such as the Chicago Cubs, the Houston Astros, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Alabama’s Crimson Tide, the Clemson Tigers, and even the New England Patriots.

If players want to make a political statement at an inappropriate time, it’s hard to say they’re deserving of such an honor.

Now, a few people tried to take some sort of political stand because they don’t care for Trump’s ideas — even though White House visits by pro sports teams have occurred since former President John F. Kennedy’s administration.

What the action by the Eagles indicates is that the quarreling over the national anthem in the NFL is far from over.

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Trump made clear that he, like millions of other Americans, believes that staying in the locker room for it is essentially the same as kneeling because the players would not be respecting the flag out on the field for all to see.

Some Eagles fans are certainly unhappy right now — but if players want to make a political statement at an inappropriate time, it’s hard to say they’re deserving of such an honor.

Tom Joyce is a freelance writer from the South Shore of Massachusetts. He covers sports, pop culture, and politics and has contributed to The Federalist, Newsday, ESPN, and other outlets.

(photo credit, article images: Philadelphia Eagles, CC BY-SA 2.0, photo collage, by Keith Allison)