In our highly politicized climate, what should have been a great honor for the Super Bowl champs Philadelphia Eagles turned into an embarrassing national news story pitting them against the president of the United States.

Prior to President Donald Trump taking office in early 2017, championship teams from the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League have routinely been invited to Washington for a feel-good ceremony with lots of handshakes, hugs and photo opportunities.

Little is routine in the Trump presidency, so when he weighed in last year condemning NFL players who took a knee during the playing of the national anthem to protest social injustice and the alleged unjustified killing of black suspects, it started a major controversy among players, fans and staunch Trump supporters.

Earlier this year, NFL owners voted to ban players from taking a knee while they are on the field. If they are not comfortable standing during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the game, they must stay in the locker room until the pregame ceremonies end.

The Eagles, none of whom took a knee even once during the 2017-18 season, were invited to a White House ceremony that was to have taken place Tuesday.

On Monday, about 24 hours before the scheduled event, Trump disinvited them, saying that the Eagles were sending only a “small delegation” and that this would be a slap in the face to patriotic American fans who had been invited to share in the moment of tribute to the world champs.

A few hours after Trump disinvited the Eagles, the team released a statement that didn’t even mention him. “It has been incredibly thrilling to celebrate our first Super Bowl Championship,” the statement said. “Watching the entire Eagles community come together has been an inspiration.”

In announcing the “disinvitation,” Trump said he was holding a “Celebration of America” on the South Lawn without the Super Bowl champs. He did that during a brief ceremony Tuesday as the Marine Band played and he sang the national anthem and “God Bless America.”

I am very happy that the Eagles did not attend. Any Eagle who chose not to go had an absolute right to express himself by his absence. This was his constitutional right of freedom of speech.

Those who had chosen to go would have been in a no-win situation. In the process, it could have put bad blood between teammates and become an impediment to the cohesiveness that this team has been noted for.

“I’m excited to be going to be honored as world champions. It’s a great honor,” head coach Doug Pederson said on May 17.

While the Eagles’ official statement was wishy-washy, there were Philadelphia politicians and players who didn’t mince words about how they felt.

“Disinviting the Eagles from the White House only proves that our president is not a true patriot, but a fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size and afraid of the embarrassment of throwing a party which no one wants to attend,” said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat.

Eagles wide receiver Torrey Smith, who had planned to skip the visit, responded to the president’s remarks with a series of tweets, saying, “So many lies.”

Malcolm Jenkins didn’t want to go to the White House but didn’t want to ruin the experience for others. Jenkins raised his fist during the playing of the national anthem but stopped after the NFL and the players association pledged $90 million toward social justice reform.

Quarterback Carson Wentz said he would attend if other teammates wanted to go. “I think it’s a cool way to receive the honor nationally and be recognized,” Wentz said last month. “I don’t personally view it as a political thing whatsoever. I don’t mess with politics very often.”

One of Trump’s fiercest supporters, U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pennsylvania, a candidate for U.S. Senate, said he was at the White House Tuesday “representing the proud Pennsylvanians who stand for our flag.”

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, meanwhile, said he did not attend the Tuesday ceremony, calling Trump’s actions a “stunt.” Casey invited the Eagles to Congress for a tour of the Capitol.

Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said it was the Eagles who pulled the “political stunt” by telling the White House that 81 would be attending, then, at the last minute, said just a tiny portion of that number would be attending and tried to reschedule the event to a time when the president is going to be abroad.

The custom of inviting championship teams to the White House began in 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge invited the World Series champion Washington Senators after they had beaten the New York Giants. Aside from the Eagles, there is no record of any other team being disinvited by a president, although Trump did not invite the NBA champion Golden State Warriors after their win over the Cleveland Cavaliers last year. The same two teams are playing for the NBA championship for the fourth consecutive time, so we will see what happens this year.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com