Bonkers for Brazil
There Are Plenty of Reasons to Be Excited for Friday Night’s Eagles Game in Brazil?
Aren’t There?
For many of us in Philly, there is only one effective anti-depressant against the sunset of another successful summer season and the end of a weekend of brilliant Labor Day festivities: the promise of the opening of the Eagles season on the second weekend in September.
And Eagles fans have good reason to celebrate. Since 2010, the Eagles have been 12–3 in Opening Day Games.
And for those of us who spend Friday nights in the fall out on the town or catching up for a nightcap before the weekend — the Eagles will be on at the same time.
But for an Eagles team making a historic journey to open the 2024–2025 season as the first team to play an NFL Game in South America as part of the 2024 NFL International Games, perhaps a reason not to be so excited does exist?
Darius Slay was only one of many Eagles who expressed his disapproval of traveling nearly 5,000 miles away from Castle Lincoln Financial Field for a game in Brazil. Coach Nick Sirianni attempted to quell the team’s reservations to the media, but the players’ feelings were clear.
It’s a great time to visit Brazil as an American athlete. One problem — the country is well — on fire. Wildfires burning in the Brazilian Rain Forest have cast a haze of smoke over Corinthians Stadium and Sao Paulo, Brazil, much like when Canadian wildfires sent a haze over Philadelphia during the summer of 2023. A lawmaker from Wisconsin has even started a petition for the game to be canceled.
Brazil has some interesting areas, for sure. Approximately 60% of the Amazon Rain Forrest is in Brazil — which is the world’s largest and is also the area where Danelo Cavalcante escaped law enforcement and made his way to America. It is estimated that between 77 and 84 uncontacted tribes still live in Brazil’s rainforest. Twenty miles off of the coast of Sao Paulo is Queimada Grande, a paradise-looking island that is home to one of the most venomous snakes in the world, the Golden Lancehead Viper. Their venom is so potent that a bite can be deadly.
Back at Corinthians Stadium, a converted soccer field, which is now a football field, utilizes the exact same playing surface as both Lambeau Field and Lincoln Financial Field. That makes three locations that use it.
Before you get too excited to see midnight green against the backdrop of the roofless arena, you may be disappointed there, too. The stadium has an informal ban on the color green (something that might have been considered before the Eagles were selected as the home team in Brazil). The Corinthians, the home soccer team in Sao Paulo, have an arch-rival known as the Palmeiras, who (you guessed it) just happen to have green uniforms.
And gambling- well, it’s a little unclear. If you plan to gamble on that fantasy football wager, be an odds maker on games, or play at an online casino while in South America, the regulations are relatively undefined. That is because the gambling laws banning activity from the 1940s were recently overturned on December 30, 2023. The new regulations require a guide to ensure that you comply.
So despite the gambling restrictions, poisonous snakes, game venue, player objections, wildfires, and not being allowed to wear a traditional uniform color— let’s just hope for an Eagles’ first win in 2024 on Friday night (yes, the Eagles are playing on Friday night.) When Cavalcante escaped one year ago from Chester County Prison and was finally apprehended in the area surrounding historic Longwood Gardens— he was wearing an Eagles hoodie.
See, Brazil already loves the Eagles.
PHOTO: Adam Schefter/Twitter/X
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Categorized:Eagles Fantasy News