--- description: Colbert wants to know, did the president dis-invite the Eagles to the White House for not kneeling? title: Stephen Colbert Knows Why Trump Disinvited the Eagles image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3758dd0ffecbbe92/6989325fab6d77f4776b2e11/colbertphiladelphiaeaglestrump.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Stephen Colbert Is Convinced He Knows Why Trump Disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles From the White House by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 6, 2018 2:31 PM CUT  by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 6, 2018 2:31 PM CUT It’s a long-standing tradition that Super Bowl champions are invited to the White House to meet the president. This year, though, Donald Trump [rescinded the invitation](http://time.com/5301572/nflpa-responds-donald-trump-criticizes-eagles/ "undefined") to the reigning champs, the Philadelphia Eagles. Trump [canceled the visit](http://time.com/5301170/philadelphia-eagles-not-attend-white-house-super-bowl-celebration-national-anthem/ "undefined") from the Eagles, because some players “disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem,” he said in a statement Monday evening. There’s just a small thing that Colbert wanted the president to consider one thing about his rescinded invitation to the Super Bowl champions. “Here’s the thing: no Eagles players took a knee or stayed in the locker room during the anthem last season,” Colbert pointed out on Tuesday night’s episode of _The Late Show_. “So Donald Trump is blaming a group of black guys for something they didn’t do. They’ll have to rename the Eagles the ‘Central Park 53’.” The last jab was a reference to the fact that[ Trump believes](http://time.com/4523257/donald-trump-central-park-five/ "undefined") that the five black and Hispanic teenagers who became known as the “[Central Park Five](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,957631,00.html "undefined")” are guilty, despite their exoneration. Colbert also called out Fox News, who “never lets the truth get in the way of a good story” ran images of the Eagles’ players taking a knee alongside a story about the rescinded invitation. That wasn’t what the picture showed, though. “Eagles tight end Zach Ertz pointed out [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/ZERTZ%5F86/status/1003970728008519680 "undefined") that was actually footage of him ‘praying before games with his teammates well before the anthem.’ Come on, look, look. It‘s an honest mistake: Fox News also thought this picture was Jesus calling a touchdown!” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5301651/trump-eagles-on-colbert/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5301651/trump-eagles-on-colbert/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert Is Convinced He Knows Why Trump Disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles From the White House","datePublished":"2018-06-06T14:31:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:53:13.451Z","description":"Did the president dis-invite the Eagles to the White House for not kneeling?","url":"https://time.com/5301651/trump-eagles-on-colbert/","keywords":["Newsfeed","stephen colbert","Late Night Television","philadelphia eagles"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3758dd0ffecbbe92/6989325fab6d77f4776b2e11/colbertphiladelphiaeaglestrump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3758dd0ffecbbe92/6989325fab6d77f4776b2e11/colbertphiladelphiaeaglestrump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ColbertPhiladelphiaEaglesTrump","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5301651/trump-eagles-on-colbert/","name":"Stephen Colbert Is Convinced He Knows Why Trump Disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles From the White House"}}]}] ```