The NFL is returning to Brazil for Week 1 of the 2025 season, despite players for eventual Super Bowl winners Philadelphia Eagles feeling worried about crime during their visit last season.
This time around, the Los Angeles Chargers the designated home team back in Sao Paulo. They don’t know who they will face yet, but are scheduled to play both the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs in home games in 2025.
Last season, the Eagles played their curtain-raiser in Sao Paulo at the Corinthians Arena, beating the Green Bay Packers on the first step on the road to lifting the Lombardi trophy.
But the buildup was overshadowed when Eagles cornerback Darius Slay said he didn’t want to visit the country after being told it was unsafe by security officials before flying out.
On his podcast, ‘Big Play Slay,’ he said: ‘”Week 1 I’m looking forward to it, I can’t wait. But man, I do not want to go to Brazil.
‘You want to know why? I’m here to tell you why. They already told us not to leave the hotel. They told us we can’t do too much going on because the crime rate is crazy.
The NFL is returning to Brazil for Week 1 of the 2025 season after its first game there in 2024
Packer star Josh Jacobs pictured at Sao Paulo airport before the Week 1 game in 2024
‘So the first thing people think is some terror can possibly happen. I told my family do not come down there because I’m not going to be nowhere to be found. I’m going to be in the hotel room chillin’.”
Slay later apologized but he wasn’t the only Eagles star to speak of concerns.
Wide receiver A.J. Brown told CBS: ‘We had a meeting and there were a whole bunch of “Don’t Do’s”.
‘So I’m just trying to go down there and win a football game, and come back home. But after hearing all this stuff, I’m probably going to be in my room.’
But when it came down to the game, the Eagles recorded a 34-29 win over the Packers on a season that ended earlier this month with Super Bowl glory.
Jim Harbaugh’s team will be hoping such an omen serves them as well in the new season, with the head coach going into his second campaign in 2025.
As well as the Chiefs and Eagles, divisional rivals Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders are also potential opponents for the game in Brazil.
So too are the Indianapolis Colts, Washington Commanders, Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans.
