At least one Philadelphia Eagles player is dreading his team’s upcoming game against the Green Bay Packers, which will be played in Brazil.
The two franchises are the first ever to compete in a competition in South America.
But not everyone is looking forward to the trip. In a recent episode of his “Big Play Slay” podcast, Eagles cornerback Darius Slay made it clear that he would rather not travel to Sao Paulo for the game.
“I don’t want to go to Brazil. You want to know why? I’m going to tell you why,” Slay said, via PHL Eagles Nation.
‘They’ve already told us that we can’t leave the hotel. They’ve told us that we can’t do too much because the crime is insane.
Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay isn’t thrilled with the idea of playing in Brazil
Slay has even told his family not to make the trip out of fear for their personal safety
“I think, ‘NFL, why would you send us to a place where the crime is so high?’”
Slay added that he is so uncomfortable with the situation that he is asking his family not to make the trip.
“I told my family not to come down because I’m not going to be here,” Slay said.
Slay says he plans to spend the entire trip in his hotel, a sentiment shared by wide receiver AJ Brown.
In an August interview, the Eagles receiver also indicated that he would get used to his hotel during the trip.
“We had a meeting yesterday with a lot of ‘Don’t Do’s,’” Brown said. “I’m just trying to go out there, win a football game and come back here. […]
He continued: ‘We’re not there to see the city, this is not a holiday, this is a football match. […] “It’s like walking down the street with your phone in your hand… pretty weird.”
“If I hear all that, I’ll probably go to my room,” he added.
Eagles wideout AJ Brown has said he plans to spend a lot of time in his room during the trip
Meanwhile, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni says he’s just focused on winning the football game
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni says he understands his players’ concerns, but he looks at the situation differently.
“We’re going there to play a football game and win. That’s our goal. That’s our only goal when we go there,” Sirianni said on Sunday.
“And so it’s just a matter of getting everybody in the right mindset of what you need to be when you go there. You can control the things that you can control. Like, we’re going to Brazil to play. That’s what it is. We’re excited about it.”
It’s not just Philadelphia’s players who are worried. In June, Packers running back Josh Jacobs expressed concern about the safety of players in Brazil, but later apologized.
For those Eagles players who are worried, thankfully they won’t be spending much time in Sao Paulo.
The Eagles plane is expected to land in the city around 10 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
The team will fly home immediately after the match, which means the team will be in Brazil for just over 48 hours.