Eagles Saquon Barkley, Jordan Mailata Embracing Opener in Brazil Despite Concerns

The Eagles are flying nine hours to play a game against the Green Bay Packers, and there are some anxieties about that, but the team is gong to try to win a game and start the year 1-0 .

Eagles RB Saquon Barkley / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – This will be the final season opener for Brandon Graham and the Eagles veteran said on Sunday that he wants to breathe it all in.  He’ll need to be careful when he inhales in Brazil in Friday night's season opener against the Green Bay Packers.

The air quality is deteriorating rapidly thanks to wildfires that are burning in 30 cities near Sau Paolo. It’s so bad that a smog alert has been issued for the first time since 2007.  And Brasilia’s Environmental Institute have called the deteriorating condition “very unhealthy.”

Graham’s family won’t be there, but he can't put anything on one social media platform for them to see. Brazil has outlawed X, formerly known as Twitter. It seems outlandish that the NFL will play a game without a social media presence.

If Graham or any of this teammates want to step outside during some free time, maybe do a little shopping, he will need to beware the criminal activity that goes on in the world’s fifth-largest city. The crime rate there is one of the worst in the world.

It just doesn’t feel like the NFL has thought this whole thing out. There has even been some speculation that the league could pull the plug on the whole thing. That won’t happen.

Why are they going? To grow the sport and, oh yeah, $$$.

“We're going there to play and win a football game,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “That's our goal. That's our only goal as we go down there. ...You can control the things that you can control. Like, we're going to Brazil to play. That's what it is. We're excited about that.”

Brandon Graham enters the practice field during Eagles training camp. / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

Some are, some aren’t.

“I think everybody is taking it differently, because some people are anxious about it,” said Graham, on the brink of opening an NFL season for the 15th year. “Being on a plane that long, I know some people get nervous, a little nervous on that plane, but we as long as we got guys that talk to each other, make sure that we all feel comfortable, I feel like we could help each other through that. But everybody is going to go out there, do the best they can, be safe, and get that win.”

You get the sense that running back Saquon Barkley would play in Baghdad if that’s where the NFL decided to send them.

“I get to actually put on a jersey,” he said. “I talked about it all offseason how thankful I am for the Eagles organization, top to bottom, for bringing me here. I'm excited to show the fans what we got…

“I get nine hours to bond with my teammates on a flight. Land, get some good food. Get ready for a game.”

Like Graham’s family and many other Eagles players, Barkley’s family won’t be making the trip to Brazil.

“I've been blessed and fortunate that six years of my career I lived in New Jersey, which is an hour away from my family, and now I live 45 minutes away from my family,” said the longtime Giant. “They've seen a lot of games. They'll have to watch this one on TV. It's OK.”

Left tackle Jordan Mailata is used to being on foreign soil, growing up in Australia. He doesn’t plan on doing any sightseeing, because he said, like every other player said, this is a business trip and they are going there to win a game. Still, he’s excited about the possibility of successfully introducing South America to America’s game.

“Dude, as long as the country embraces it, it’s going to be phenomenal,” he said. “You can’t just expect to go to a country and grow the sport. People have to embrace it. I think it’s going to be a monumental step for the NFL to (be in Brazil).

“… It’ll be awesome. It’s such a great thing to do. It’s a new sport. Everybody’s going to be like, ‘What is this?’ They get to learn it, and if they don’t like it, they don’t like it. If they love it, we’ll be playing again in Brazil in about four more years.”

That will depend on how this trip goes.

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