Philadelphia Eagles player attacks Fox News for using picture of him praying as ‘propaganda’ against taking a knee

Donald Trump is not hosting the team at the White House over the controversy

Zach Ertz #86 of the Philadelphia Eagles slams Fox News for using a picture of him praying in a story about President Donald Trump disinviting players to the White House for kneeling during the national anthem (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

A Philadelpia Eagles player has slammed Fox News for using an unrelated clip of the team praying to accompany a story about Donald Trump disinviting the team to the White House amid a controversy over kneeling during the national anthem.

Tight end Zach Ertz, who was part of last year’s Super Bowl championship team, tweeted: “This can’t be serious…Praying before games with my teammates, well before the anthem, is being used for your propaganda?!” He linked to a Fox News tweet that was promoting its story, which appears to have been deleted.

Ertz wrote he thought the use of the picture was “just sad” and that he thought the network “should have to better than this”. The image, which featured Ertz and a teammate kneeling and praying before a game, appears to have been changed in the linked story as well.

The story had also included a montage of Eagles players raising their fists during the national anthem ahead of games in 2017, but no players actually took a knee during the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner unlike other teams during the season.

Fox News’ Christopher Wallace, the executive producer of Fox News Night with Shannon Bream, issued an apology for the segment and inaccurate images in a statement: “During our report about [Mr] Trump cancelling the Philadelphia Eagles trip to the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl win, we showed unrelated footage of players kneeling in prayer".

"To clarify, no members of the team knelt in protest during the national anthem throughout regular or post-season last year. We apologise for the error,” Mr Wallace said.

The kneeling movement was begun by former San Francisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick as a way to peacefully protest police violence and the rash of police-involved shooting deaths of young black men and boys across the country.

Mr Trump has routinely criticised NFL players who kneeled during the playing of national anthems ahead of games, even calling them “sons of b******” at one point. He rescinded his invitation to the Eagles after hearing that the team would only send about 10 players rather than the whole team, which is customary for national champions.

He said in a statement that "the Eagles wanted to send a smaller delegation, but the 1,000 fans planning to attend the event deserve better”.

The NFL appeared to cater to political pressure and issued a ruling last month that required players to stand, and only stand, during the national anthem ahead of games or face fines. However, it did give players the option to remain in the locker room during that time.

Mr Trump, having called the peaceful protest against racism an affront to American patriotism on numerous occasions, said staying in locker rooms “was as disrespectful” as taking a knee.