Security Being Beefed Up for the Packers vs. Eagles Game in Brazil

The NFL announced that it would be holding its first-ever NFL game in Brazil months ago, and shortly after that announcement came the news that the game would feature two of the most popular, oldest teams in the league with the Green Bay Packers facing off against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles are considered the home team for the game, although they’ll be playing thousands of miles from Philadelphia. That news alone left some fans, especially those who support the Eagles, a bit frustrated, as home-field advantage is coveted in the NFL, and losing a home game is widely considered a bad thing.

However, fans of both sides started voicing their concerns after some players and other NFL personnel expressed concern about their personal safety. With that in mind, the decision has been made to increase security around the stadium and for both teams. Learn more about this move and the historic game that it surrounds today.

What Are Players Saying?

Most of the safety concerns come from some comments shared by players from both teams. Darius Slay of the Philadelphia Eagles, who is widely considered one of the top defensive backs in the league, explained on his “Big Play Slay” podcast that while he was excited for the NFL season to get started, he was not excited about playing in the first game ever hosted in Sao Palo, Brazil.

During that particular episode, Slay was quoted as saying, “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... and like we out the country. 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 went on to say, "I’m like, ‘NFL, why y’all wanna send us somewhere where the crime rate is this high and we out the country?’ You know, the first thing people are thinking is like some terror could possibly happen.”

The comments from Slay, including claims that players had been told not to leave their respective hotels, quickly drew a lot of attention and some ire from Brazilian football fans who are excited to see an NFL game in their country.

A few days after his initial comments, Slay took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to walk back his earlier statement, explaining that he “can’t wait” to play in Brazil and that he’s heard that NFL fans there are “very passionate, just like Eagles fans.”

However, Slay isn’t the only player who has shared some concerns about safety while traveling abroad for a game.

The Eagles' top wide receiver, AJ Brown, shared similar sentiments in a conversation with CBS Sports in August. During his interview, Brown said, “We had a meeting [on Aug. 28], 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.”

It's not just the Eagles who have voiced some concerns about their safety. Erik Stokes, the Packers' third-year defensive back out of Georgia, was asked about the concerns shared by opposing players, and he largely confirmed what Slay and Brown had said, at least about the meetings and what players had been told. “Ah, yeah. That’s the best thing, just don’t leave the hotel,” Stokes said on the Tuesday before the game.

Christian Watson, the Packers’ speediest wide receiver, underscored the sentiments shared by Stokes, Slay, and Brown. Watson was quoted as saying, “I’m not doing anything. I don’t plan to leave the hotel or do anything while I’m out there.”

Each of the head coaches, Nick Siriani (Eagles) and Matt LaFleur (Packers) have largely shied away from talking about the security concerns in Brazil and what players were told about leaving their hotels. Instead, both LaFleur and Siriani have been focused on the game as two Super Bowl hopefuls look to start the season 1-0. Both teams departed their home cities on Wednesday, roughly 48 hours before the game is scheduled to kick off.

As of this writing, no security concerns have been shared.

Why Are Players Worried?

Last season, the Green Bay Packers played a game in London, and many players and fans were excited to make the game part of a longer trip. With sights like Big Ben and other historic landmarks, several Packers players shared pictures from their trip on their social media platforms. That’s not expected to be the case with Green Bay’s second trip out of the nation in as many seasons.

Brazil has the seventh-highest crime rate in the world, which is the basis for concern among players, coaches, and fans. To make things even more troubling, Brazil has an incredibly high violent crime rate. In 2020, Brazil reported 23.6 homicides per every 100,000 residents. Sadly, that number was lower than it had been in previous years when it had been as high as 30.8.

Organized crime is at the heart of Brazil’s violent crime problem. In what essentially amounts to gang warfare, members of different organized crime rings routinely fight over money, territory, power, and virtually everything else with much of the violence stemming from the illegal drug trade.

Additionally, political corruption runs rampant, as many politicians are bribed by leaders of these gangs, and those who haven’t taken bribes routinely come to power while they’re members of gangs.

Players, fans, coaches, and other team personnel have also voiced concerns about a recent decision made by Alexandre de Moraes, the minister of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil.

Last week, de Moraes made the decision to ban X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil, even though free speech is one of the cornerstone principles in the nation’s constitution. Brazil joined a short list of communist nations, including Russia, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Iran, and Venezuela in banning the social media platform, which has left many people wondering why the government wants to silence people, especially when two of the most popular teams in the United States’ most popular sport are about to arrive.

What’s Being Done About the Safety Concerns?

Government officials in Sao Paolo have announced that they will be deploying hundreds of police officers to the area around the stadium, in addition to offering police escorts for the buses that will be transporting the teams to the game, and then, to the airport. Additionally, Sao Paolo has committed to deploying members of its military police force to add another layer of security.

These security efforts are going to be coordinated with authorities from the United States, an announcement that has given some players a hint of peace about the upcoming game. Finally, Sao Paolo leaders announced that bomb-sniffing dogs will be deployed into and around the stadium before the game to ensure that there are no explosives on site.

The NFL is far and away the most popular sports league in the United States, and routinely pulls in more than 15 million viewers for marquee games. With this in mind, many fans and analysts have questioned why the league needed to send players to Brazil.

Roger Goodell, the NFL Commissioner, has long been vocal about his desire to grow the game globally, but the decision to send teams to a nation as unsafe as Brazil has raised some eyebrows. As the only game on Friday evening, the Packers and Eagles will likely bring in 20 million or more viewers, but it’s safe to assume that the players will be ready to get home as soon as the game ends.