Lurie has remained tight-lipped about a visit to the nation's capital since the Super Bowl winGetty Images
The Eagles have yet to visit the White House following their Super Bowl LII win, but a White House spokesperson said that one is "being planned," according to Belson & Shear of the N.Y. TIMES. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "We have been in conversations with the Eagles about timing and are working with them to make it happen. We hope to have something finalized in the next couple of weeks." The Eagles are the first team to win the Super Bowl since President Trump "first attacked the league last September." There is no formal routine for scheduling White House visits, though most winners "receive an invitation soon after the game, and visits are common in March or April, when players are together but their schedules are not as hectic." Last year, the Patriots "went to the White House on April 19." The Eagles will "probably have several prominent no-shows if the team makes the trip." After beating the Patriots in February, some players including S Malcolm Jenkins, DE Chris Long and then-WR Torrey Smith "said they would not visit the White House if invited." Eagles Owner Jeffrey Lurie is "considered one of the most liberal in the league, and he is sympathetic" to what Jenkins and other players have been trying to achieve (N.Y. TIMES, 4/24). NBC SPORTS PHILADELPHIA's Dave Zangaro noted when Lurie was asked about the possible trip at the annual league meetings last month, he "didn't seem very eager to speak about the topic." Lurie: "We just won the Super Bowl. I haven't had any of those discussions. I have no idea. It's just ... I haven't had those discussions" (NBCSPORTS.com, 4/23).
FOOTING THE BILL: In Philadelphia, Bender & Otterbein noted the Eagles' Super Bowl victory parade cost $2.27M, of which the Eagles "had agreed to cover" $273,000, while the Pennsylvania taxpayers "will chip in $500,000 toward the city's security costs." This leaves the city of Philadelphia "on the hook" for about $1.5M (PHILLY.com, 4/20).
