The New Orleans Saints remain on track to play the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday in France’s first regular-season NFL game.
Stade de France will host the international showcase amid civil unrest in Paris. Authorities issued curfews in select cities after riots broke out across France over the weekend.
That turmoil didn’t derail the Saints’ travel plans. They arrived in Paris Monday morning on a direct flight from New Jersey after Sunday’s 34-27 win over the New York Giants.
“Our guys were able to get out on the field and just kind of walk around and get a light lift in,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said Monday, per team reporter John DeShazier. “I think it’s a great setup. It’s an awesome opportunity for our football team to spend some time together, focus in on a really good opportunity to play out here in a great atmosphere.”
NFL isn’t planning to move Paris game
Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
The NFL said Sunday that they would continue to communicate with local authorities, security personnel, and both teams leading up to the game but maintained that there was “no disruption or impact at league sites” from the riots.
Brett Gosper, the NFL’s head of Europe and Asia-Pacific, doesn’t foresee any complications that would force them to move the game.
“We’ve been monitoring that with our security people, in contact with the security people as well locally, French police, etc.,” Gosper said. “It’s full speed ahead at this point, we don’t see any reason to be otherwise. That’s the intelligence that we’re getting, the view we’re getting. So, all is good from this point. We’re going to keep monitoring things and making sure that we stay safe. It’s on a good passage way to the game now. That’s our feeling.”
Saints tight end Juwan Johnson acknowledged potential safety concerns for players and their families.
“Just being safe is obviously the biggest thing. Some guys have family here — some guys have their parents, their kids and things like that. The biggest thing is just travel in groups,” Johnson said.
“But I think what you do on your own is obviously, I think just praying for the city of Paris. I think being in Paris is one of the most beautiful things you can be a part of. They have so much history, so (many) things going on. But I think with everything that’s going on, I think they’re exercising what they want as far as change. As outsiders, we just want to be as safe as possible and keep our families and keep our teammates safe.”
The Week 7 game starts Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET on the NFL Network.
