Philadelphia Eagles players were loudly booed as they took the field in Brazil on Friday night following the controversy surrounding cornerback Darius Slay.
Slay was forced to apologize earlier this week after saying he would not travel to Brazil to attend the Eagles’ NFL International Series game against the Green Bay Packers due to concerns about the country’s “high crime rate.”
He also lashed out at NFL executives for sending both the Eagles and Packers to the South American country, but eventually changed his mind, calling it a “beautiful country.”
Despite Slay’s apology, fans at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo showed their anger by booing Eagles players as they walked out to warm up for the game ahead of their eventual 34-29 victory over the Packers.
The Brazilian fans clearly hadn’t forgotten his tirade about their country. He said he felt so uncomfortable about the situation that he had told his family not to travel to their country.
Philadelphia Eagles players were loudly booed as they took the field in Brazil on Friday night
“I told my family not to come down because I won’t be here anyway,” he admitted.
Slay says he plans to spend the entire trip in his hotel, which is similar to what Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown is thinking.
In an August interview, Brown 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.”
However, following all the outrage over his comments about the country earlier this week, Slay took to X to apologize to Brazil.
Eagles cornerback Darius Slay recently stated that he does not want to travel to Brazil for their International Series game against the Green Bay Packers
The Eagles take on the Packers in the first-ever NFL game on South American soil
“I want to apologize to anyone I offended, that was not my intention,” he said. “I look forward to playing in your beautiful country and I have heard you are as passionate as our great Eagles fan. Just a few more days, I can’t wait!!!!”
The Eagles brushed aside pre-game animosity and made a perfect start to the new NFL season after recording a hard-fought 34-29 victory over the Packers.
Saquon Barkley was the hero in his long-awaited debut for Philadelphia, scoring three touchdowns and leading his home team to victory.
It was the Eagles’ first game since Jason Kelce, who enjoyed an iconic 13-year tenure with the franchise, made the difficult decision to retire from football at the end of last season.
And after seeing them hit full throttle in 2024, the 36-year-old Kelce took to his former team to praise them and point out where they can improve to get to the next level.
Saquon Barkley led the Eagles to victory by scoring three touchdowns in his long-awaited debut for the team
“Eagles 1-0, great first game of the year against a very good Packers team,” Kelce wrote.
‘Sloppy play, but when they executed the man, they rolled. Lots of good stuff going into this one, clear up some of the early game nerves on O, and put the explosives on D and we’re rolling baby!!’
In the final seconds of the game, Packers quarterback Jordan Love was forced off the field with a lower leg injury, sending his team to an opening loss.
Kelce added in another post: “Hopefully Jordan Love is doing well. I’m excited to watch him play. I was secretly a little nervous about this game. Big win for the Good Guys.”
