Amid ongoing local unrest that has sparked full-blown riots, the NFL is pushing forward with its first-ever game in Paris.
Via Ken Maguire of the Associated Press, the Saints arrived on Monday for the Week 7 contest. The league, as Maguire explains it, hopes to stage a “mini-Super Bowl.” Which, of course, would only make the game and its associated events more enticing for disruption.
Among other things, an “NFL House” will open later this week, and the league will have other fan activities. The Saints have their own fan events planned.
The Steelers will make the trip on Thursday.
“You would hope that the NFL is not going to put us in any bad situations,” Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb said, via Matt Press of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “So if they feel like it’s safe for us to go, we’ll go.”
Coach Mike McCarthy said the team has had a “meeting where they talked about potential concerns for the trip,” and that owner Art Rooney II “has been” involved in conversations regarding a contingency plan if the situation escalates and disrupts the game.
As to the simplest Plan B — playing the game in New Orleans — that ship presumably sailed once the Saints landed in France. The worst-case scenario at this point would possibly include moving the game to London, which is only 213 miles away from Paris as the croissant flies.