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Outspoken Eagles player gets creative with silent response to Trump’s snub

Malcolm Jenkins responded to Trump's rescinded White House invite -- and no words were required.

Rodney McLeod #23,  Malcolm Jenkins #27 and  Chris Long #56 of the Philadelphia Eagles stand during the National Anthem during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on October 8, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
Rodney McLeod #23, Malcolm Jenkins #27 and Chris Long #56 of the Philadelphia Eagles stand during the National Anthem during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on October 8, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

Outspoken Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins finally responded to President Donald Trump’s snub of the Super Bowl champions — and no words were necessary.

As a large crowd gathered around Jenkins to ask him about Trump’s decision to rescind his invite to the Super Bowl champions less than 24 hours before they were set to visit the White House, Jenkins held up handwritten signs in silence.

Jenkins later tweeted images of his reactions to Trump’s snub, which included “Any given night 500,000 sit in jail. Convicted? No. Too Poor? Yes #EndCashBail”; “in 2018 439 people shot and killed by police (thus far)”; and “Colin Kaepernick gave $1 million to charity.”

In September, Sports Illustrated highlighted Jenkins’ off-field advocacy:

In Pennsylvania, Jenkins has been working to raise awareness for the proposed Clean Slate Act, a bipartisan bill that would allow for offenders of nonviolent misdemeanors to have their records sealed after 10 years if they haven’t had any subsequent offenses. They have galvanized a Players Coalition, a group of approximately 40 players across the league, who communicate regularly and help each other to do grass-roots work in communities across the United States on specific criminal justice reform issues like ending the cash bail system and juvenile life without parole.

Most of the other Eagles players and staff avoided comment about Trump’s snub. Chris Long, who became the first white NFL player to join the anti-racism anthem protests, said Wednesday “I have, like, three years of quotes about me and Donald Trump. I’m not going to keep going down that road, respectfully.

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Eagles coach Doug Pederson expressed disappointment at Trump’s decision, but added, “It is what it is. We’re here today, got an OTA practice. I’m focused on these next couple days, getting through next week and onto training camp. That’s where we’re at.”

Reporters attempted to get Pederson to respond to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders’ remarks about the Eagles’ “lack of good faith”, but Philadelphia’s head coach wasn’t having it. “I’m not discussing it. It’s over. What you’ve seen and what you’ve heard is enough.”

Trump called off the Eagles’ planned White House visit after hearing the team was going to send a smaller delegation, and held his own patriotism event instead. Administration officials have slammed the team even though no Eagles players took a knee last season. Trump has used the NFL protests as a racist dog whistle for much of the last year, saying protesting players should be removed from the country in May. Trump may have violated federal law by urging NFL owners not to sign Colin Kaepernick, who started kneeling during the anthem to protest police brutality against people of color in 2016.

On Wednesday, a Republican congressman told Trump to stop wasting time on NFL culture wars and focus on “real issues.