This cancellation is as sudden as it is surprising: a Philadelphia Eagles superstar will not be attending the reception at the White House.

The Philadelphia Eagles are visiting the White House on Monday. There, the Super Bowl winners will be honored by US President Donald Trump for their triumph in the NFL final.

One of the main players will now be missing at short notice: quarterback Jalen Hurts will not be there, as NFL insider Dov Kleiman reports.

The reason is “scheduling conflicts.” Exactly what these are is unclear. No details are available.

As NBC Philadelphia reported at the start of the ceremony on Monday evening CEST, in addition to Hurts, “A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and several members of the Eagles defense” were also absent.

The fact is that there was some back and forth in the run-up to the visit as to whether the Eagles actually wanted to attend the ceremony.

After initially declining, the champions ultimately decided to go to the White House.

It would not have been the first time that the Eagles, as reigning champions, had declined the traditional reception at the White House: they also declined a visit in 2018. At that time, Trump was in his first term in office.