There is mounting speculation that the White House ceremony for Eagles fans did not have any Eagles fans
- On Tuesday the White House hosted "a celebration of the American flag with Eagles fans" after canceling the team's White House visit.
- While the White House claimed that they expected 1,000 Eagles fans and that the crowd was even larger than expected, a few notes raised suspicions.
- A Philadelphia reporter found that the crowd was mostly unaware of the team's Super Bowl hero, and three different photographers appeared to identify just one fan holding a jersey.
- More telling were the photos as the many noted that the "fans" simply didn't look like standard NFL fans attending a Super Bowl celebration.
On Tuesday the White House hosted "a celebration of the American flag with Eagles fans."
At the event, Trump once again bragged about the size of the gathered crowd. "This is a beautiful, big celebration," Trump said. "Actually, to be honest, it's even bigger than we had anticipated."
But further examination of the event raises an essential question - were any actual Eagles fans in attendance?
On Twitter, the evidence was unconvincing.
Tim Furlong of Philadelphia's NBC10 passed along another anecdote that raised my suspicion.
Additionally, going through photos of the event, only one fan was photographed with a Eagles jersey, by three different photographers.
No other "fans" present appeared to have Eagles jerseys.
AP names the man pictured here as Tim Dagit of Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. And while Dagit may, in fact, be a bona fide Philly fan, it raises questions about how so many Eagles fans could be in possession of so few jerseys, and this one wasn't even being worn.
Maybe there's a simple explanation. Maybe D.C. Eagles fans dress a bit more proper than their Philadelphia counterparts. Or, as many have speculated, maybe it's possible this was a rush of White House staffers asked to run to the lawn to help Trump.
A group of more than 1,000 fans with just one jersey and hundreds of ties amongst them certainly raises eyebrows among us Eagles fans.
Eagles fans climb poles that have been greased up with Crisco. Then, when the city upgrades its pole security from Crisco to hydraulic fluid, we climb those poles too. Eagles fans belt out our fight song when asked to "tone it down" on an airplane.
When explaining its decision to disinvite the Eagles, the White House claimed that the Eagles were taking part in a "political stunt" by backing out of the event. But to Eagles fans who has been surrounded by friends and family that bleed green, this doesn't look like a crowd of Eagles fans - there are far too many ties.