I waited 52 years for the Eagles to win a Super Bowl.
Looks like I will have to wait a little longer for them to celebrate with the traditional visit to the White House.
Last night President Donald Trump rescinded his invitation to the team, apparently the latest volley in the war over NFL players protesting during the playing of the national anthem.
This came less than 24 hours before the scheduled visit, and after it became clear that many members of the team did not plan to take part in the celebration.
The president issued a statement noting that some member of the Eagles organization "disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country."
Instead, Trump said he will hold another ceremony that will feature the U.S. Marine Band and the U.S. Army Chorus that "will honor our great country, pay tribute to the heroes who fight to protect it, and loudly and proudly play the National Anthem."
Raise your hand if you saw this one coming.
But first, something that might surprise you.
I disagree with the players who said they would not attend the White House ceremony.
It's not the first time I've taken this stance. I said it about other teams, in other years. The fact that this year it involves my beloved Eagles does not change my position.
I wish they would simply respect the office, regardless of who happens to be sitting in it.
For that matter, I'm no big fan of athletes taking a stand - or in this case a knee - to make a point. NFL athletes, kickstarted by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, started taking a knee, raising a fist and joining hands to protest what they perceive as racial injustice and several shooting incidents involving African Americans and police.
I don't especially care for it intruding on what I consider an escape from exactly those kind of situations. Yes, I'm a fan, I live and die with Philly teams. But in the end, it's still sports. It's supposed to be an escape.
Not anymore.
What was supposed to be one more day for long-suffering Eagles fans to exalt in a Super Bowl victory has now been sacrificed on the altar of politics.
None of which is to say I would consider for a moment stopping them from exercising their constitutional right to freedom of speech and protest. They don't lose that when they put on the uniform. Of course, they also have to abide by the owner's rules. It's perhaps the one thing they have in common with the rest of us working stiffs.
But the reality is that this is not about any of that.
This is not really about respecting the anthem.
Or disrespecting our troops.
This is about Donald Trump. It's always about Donald Trump. It's the narcissist-in-chief's world. We just happen to be sharing it. This isn't about us. As usual, it's all about him.
And his incessant culture wars.
I think it could safely be said that the president was not having a good day yesterday. He was being eviscerated by his latest stance that he was above the law and had the right to pardon himself and kill the Mueller investigation into Russia.
So sometime around 7:30 the president issued a press release indicating he was cancelling the appearance by the Eagles scheduled for the White House Tuesday.
It spared him the possible embarrassment of having much of the team fail to show up.
So he took what could have been construed as a negative and spun into gold - another slab of red meat fed to his devoted base.
Voila, suddenly no one is talking about pardons. Everyone is talking about the anthem.
And Donald Trump.
Just what the president wants.
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