NFL overcomes civil unrest, Trump concerns and calls to postpone as Steelers and Saints kick off in Paris
After the wisdom of America's most popular sport was questioned over its insistence to play its first-ever game in France in the wake of a Saturday filled with protests and violence, the NFL kicked off inside Paris's Stade de France on Sunday.
So, we've learned a lesson: The league that played the fabled Ice Bowl in temperatures of minus-13°F, played the Fog Bowl in zero visibility, and played Super Bowl XXIII just days after riots in Miami, has a new a benchmark for playing despite difficult circumstances.
Surrounded by a heavier security presence than perhaps any NFL regular-season game before, the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints kicked off just as the league planned for months at around 3:30 p.m. Paris time (9:30 a.m ET in the United States).
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The game is being played in the wake of an exhausting Saturday in which a government estimated 110,000 protesters consisting of students, workers, farmers, socialists, communists, pro-Palestine Muslims, anarchists, Antifa and other radicals took to the streets to march, battle police, and cause civil unrest.
And although that unrest forced the shuttering of Saturday's three official fan events planned by the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints, it didn't claim Sunday's game.
Stade de France, approximately nine miles north of the Eiffel Tower, was near capacity at kickoff.
It is unknown if the game has faced any credible security threats prior to kickoff. Emails to the league's security department and the Prefecture de Police de Paris have not been answered by publication time.
And while the teams and players will tell the tale of this game, the story of how it remained as scheduled despite the surrounding violence is an equally compelling and perhaps controversial narrative.
The NFL is playing this first game in France after calls from pundits, at least one player's wife, and even the President of the United States to postpone or relocate.
Paris Saint-Germaine rescheduled its Saturday match to Monday because of the unrest and that fed the chorus of voices calling for the NFL to do the same.
But when asked by OutKick if it still expected to play the game amid the postponement of the soccer match and the shuttering of its own pregame fan events, the NFL had a one word answer:
"Yes."
The NFL reached that decision even though President Donald Trump admitted he was "worried about it," and went on to admit, "I would've said the NFL could've probably postponed that match, if you want to know the truth."
The NFL faced similar calls to back down throughout the past week.
But the week was filled with the league officials saying they were moving ahead with the game, with the understanding it had contingencies for doing something else if necessary.
NFL executive vice president for Club Business and International Peter O'Reilly said last week the league was being "vigilant" about the situation in France but still confident the game would go forward.
"We've got confidence in the plans both from an ops and security standpoint," he said.
That confidence was echoed by Commissioner Roger Goodell, who informed reporters that he had been in contact not just with the U.S. Department of State but with Secretary of State Marco Rubio himself.
Rubio confirmed to OutKick that the U.S. Embassy and France believed the game would "be fine."
The intriguing thing about this game and the NFL's recent misadventure in London, where Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts flew approximately 11 hours roundtrip while battling a blood clot that got worse after the return flight home, is that more players have openly questioned the league's embrace of international games.
Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf was asked in France if there is a country he would like to play a next international game?
"No, sir," Metcalf said, "because I really don't like traveling outside the U.S. to play football."