NFL Debunks Security Concerns for Packers-Eagles Game in Brazil

The NFL denied that the Packers and Eagles would not be allowed to wear uniforms with green at their season-opening game Sept. 6 in Brazil because allegedly the color is affiliated with gangs there. The league also denied that the teams would be restricted to their hotels with armored vehicles taking them to the stadium.

Packers running back Josh Jacobs told former NFL star Chris Long on his Green Light with Chris Long podcast, “They said the part of Brazil we’re going into you can’t even wear green … They said like I guess something to do with the gangs.

“They said they told us it was like man, it’s one of the places where they probably won’t even let us leave the hotel … Probably going to have like armored vehicles following us and I’m like, ‘Bro, why are we out here?’” 

The comments were tweeted out by several accounts that aggregate NFL news.

But NFL chief spokesman Brian McCarthy wrote in a text of the idea the teams couldn’t wear green and would be under heavy security, “No, neither of these items are true. One of the host stadium’s rival soccer clubs wears green but the league did not say players could not wear green. That is false. Multiple league officials from across the league have made multiple planning trips. As with any international game, we have comprehensive security plans in place coordinated with local officials. Again, there was no guidance provided to the clubs as suggested here.”

When asked if he could share the guidance, he declined, but added, “It’s the standard policies and procedures for international travel.”

It is the first game the NFL is playing in Brazil, a country that hosted the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, events that were preceded by a lot of fearful talk about crime but became largely a non-issue during those spectacles. The game is in Corinthians Arena, home to the soccer club of the same name.

The first Friday contest in the NFL’s opening weekend since 1970, it will be streamed exclusively on Peacock, other than in the Green Bay and Philadelphia markets, where per league policy, it will be available over the air on a free local channel.