Eagles players and officials made individual decisions to not go to the White House for a scheduled celebration of their Super Bowl title Womens Kareem Hunt Jersey , leaving two players actually planning to make the trip to Washington before the visit was canceled by President Donald Trump, according to players and a person familiar with the arrangements.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because of the sensitivity of the issues.
All-Pro center Jason Kelce said players filled out forms anonymously indicating whether they wanted to go to the White House, not make the trip or go to Washington and do something else.
”It’s a little bit disappointing as a country right now that we’re so divided, I think that’s the bigger disappointment,” said Kelce, who became a folk hero in Philadelphia for an impassioned, profane rally speech he gave after a day of antics during the city’s Super Bowl parade.
The players did not urge a collective decision on what to do as a team, giving each player his own option of whether to take the trip.
Defensive end Chris Long, who skipped the trip last year when he was with the New England Patriots and again decided early to not attend, said he hopes athletes on championship teams in all sports won’t have to make the decision when Trump’s term is up for re-election in 2020.
”The players didn’t create this division (in the country),” Long said. ”I’m extremely proud to be part of this team.”
Safety Malcolm Jenkins, an outspoken leader for social reforms, held up handwritten signs on issues important to him and other players instead of verbally answering questions.
”You aren’t listening,” one sign said. Another said that former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick gave $1 million to charity. Kaepernick began the wave of kneeling protests in the NFL as a way to protest racism and police brutality, and is working through a grievance case against the league after he was not signed by any team following his run with San Francisco.
Another sign by Jenkins read: ”More than 60 percent of people in prison are people of color.”
Coach Doug Pederson said before practice that he was looking forward to going to the White House to be recognized as Super Bowl champions but he wouldn’t further discuss details of the trip’s breakdown. He declined to provide information on how things escalated to the White House accusing players of abandoning their fans by deciding to not attend.
”What you’ve seen and what you’ve heard is enough. I’m not discussing it,” Pederson said. ”The team is great. We’re united. Our goal is 2018. It’s over. It’s behind us. We’re moving on.”
Trump rescinded his invitation late Monday and instead turned the ceremony for the Eagles on Tuesday into his own brief ”Celebration of America” after it became clear most players weren’t going to show up. Trump tied the dispute to his criticism of players who have kneeled during the national anthem Henrik Lundqvist Jersey Kids , even though no Eagles players kneeled for the song during the 2017 season.
Also Wednesday, hockey player Devante Smith-Pelly said he would skip a White House visit if the Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup. Smith-Pelly, one of two black Capitals players, spoke about Trump to Canada’s Postmedia.
”The things that he spews are straight-up racist and sexist,” Smith-Pelly said with the Capitals a victory away from their first title. ”Some of the things he’s said are pretty gross. I’m not too into politics, so I don’t know all his other views, but his rhetoric I definitely don’t agree with. It hasn’t come up here, but I think I already have my mind made up.”
On Tuesday, NBA stars LeBron James and Curry both said they wouldn’t visit.
Eagles Tight end Zach Ertz wore a Team USA soccer jersey while answering questions and said he’s ”proud to be an American.”
”Everyone in this locker room understands that everyone’s heart is in the right place,” Ertz said. ”We weren’t going to let someone try and formulate an agenda. What’s unique about this locker room is that everyone’s treated with respect, people truly care about one another, people respect other people’s opinions. We’re united.”
Long took a shot at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for staying silent on the matter.
”If he doesn’t want to stand up for his players, that’s not my business,” Long said. ”I know my teammates are great men. There’s men of faith in this locker room. There’s men who serve their communities. There’s men who have a lot who give back to people with a lot less.”
—
After missing the playoffs for the second straight year, and eighth time in the last 11, the New York Islanders head into the offseason with much work to be done.
The most important task is signing captain John Tavares Authentic Ryan Kerrigan Jersey , who is set to be a free agent this summer.
Tavares has said all along he hopes to be back with the only franchise he’s played for, but doesn’t know what will happen. However, with the season having ended less than 48 hours ago, he needs to take a breather first.
”Take some time to not even think about hockey for a few days,” Tavares said Monday. ”And then prepare for the offseason and training, and obviously the contract will come up here as well.”
Tavares, 27, just wrapped up the final year of a six-year, $33 million contract, and would be the top free agent available July 1. The face of the Islanders since they selected him No. 1 overall in the 2009 draft, Tavares had 37 goals and 47 assists this season, finishing a goal and an assist shy of the career highs he set in 2014-15.
”This is where I hope to be and I’ve stated that,” he said. ”Just have to take some time and figure out what I want to do.”
Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky and general manager Garth Snow have both repeatedly said they want Tavares to return, and Snow reiterated that Monday.
”We want to be in a situation where he has the Stanley Cup in his hand, wearing an Islanders jersey, and we want him to retire as an Islander Authentic Jordan Eberle Jersey ,” Snow said.
Ledecky read a statement in which he declined to address the futures of any player, or the statuses of Snow and coach Doug Weight, saying the team was ”committed to long-term success,” and defined that as ”competing every year for the Stanley Cup and eventually winning a fifth ring.”
He added: ”For the past season, as owners we have failed. We sincerely apologize to our fans. We want to express that our ownership group is totally committed to winning and providing the resources to do just that.”
The Islanders finished 35-37-10 despite getting off to a strong start in which they won 15 of their first 24 games.
However, injuries to defensemen Calvin de Haan and Johnny Boychuk started them on a tailspin in which they lost 30 of their final 45 games (15-24-6).
There were some bright spots, led by Mathew Barzal’s 22 goals and 63 assists that make him the leading candidate for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie. Also, Anders Lee had the franchise’s first 40-goal season since Jason Blake in 2006-07, and Josh Bailey had career bests of 18 goals and 53 assists.
Some other things to know as the Islanders head into the offseason:
IMPROVING THE DEFENSE
Finding a way to improve the defense needs to be the second priority this summer – after retaining Tavares. The Islanders finished eighth in the league in scoring with 261 goals, but gave up a league-worst 293. They were also last in shots allowed and penalty-killing,
Nick Leddy had an unseemly minus-42 rating, the league’s worst since Pittsburgh’s Rico Fata (minus-46) in 2003-04. Calvin de Haan was lost for the season in December and is also set to be free agent. On the bright side, Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech, both 23, established themselves as solid young defensemen.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier, both 20 Jonathan Marchessault Jersey , formed a solid second line with Jordan Eberle, 27, combining for 180 points to complement the top line of Lee-Tavares-Bailey (217).
Eberle had 25 goals and 34 assists in his first season in New York, and Beauvillier had a breakout second season in the NHL with 21 goals and 15 assists.
WHO’S IN GOAL?
Thomas Greiss is the only goalie signed for next season, with Jaroslav Halak set to be an unrestricted free agent. Greiss dealt with an injury down the stretch and finished 13-8-2 with one shutout and a 3.82 goals-against average.
Halak was 20-26-6 with a shutout and a 3.16 GAA in the final season of a four-year deal. The 32-year-old had a solid first season, going 38-17-4 with a 2.43 GAA in 2014-15, but totaled just 50 wins the last three years.
SNOW’S JOB
With the Islanders having made the playoffs just four times in 12 years since Snow was hired as the GM, he was asked if he deserved to stay on the job.
”Yeah,” he said. ”When I took over this position it was a situation where it was an all-out rebuild. … Now we’re in a situation where we feel we can compete for a Stanley Cup.
”You can go through the lineup and have a pretty common theme of successful stories of where we’ve built through the draft. And I think our prospect pool at this point in time is impressive as well.”
HOME AND HOME
The team’s struggles this season were punctuated by losses at Barclays Center, where they were 59-26-16 since moving to the Brooklyn arena before the 2015-16 season.
However, they lost 15 of their final 22 games there to finish with a losing record on home ice for the first time since 2013-14.
Now, the Islanders will be splitting home games between Barclays Center and the Nassau Coliseum – their former home – for at least the next three seasons until a new arena is built at Belmont Park.
—-
Follow Vin Cherwoo at Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys
« Youth San Francisco 49ers JerseysThe bizarre bugs of FIFA 19 »
Weitere Artikel der Kategorie Allgemein
RSS-Feed abonnieren
Besucher
Forum Statistiken
