NFL Star Unleashes Rant About Having To Play In Brazil, Cites Safety Concerns: WATCH
Darius Slay has absolutely no interest in playing in Brazil.
The Packers and Eagles play this Friday in São Paulo, Brazil, and the situation is already off to a rocky start long before kickoff.
Brazil has banned X due to a feud with Elon Musk. The country seems to be racing towards authoritarianism, and has thrown free speech into the trash.
NFL reporters, players and the league itself won't be able to provide any updates on the game on X. It's an insane situation, and if the NFL had any guts, it would refuse to play in Brazil.
Darius Slay isn't happy about playing in Brazil. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
Darius Slay rips the fact the Eagles have to play in Brazil.
The Eagles star cornerback made it clear that he thinks its utterly ridiculous they're playing in a country that's so dangerous.
"Week one, I'm looking forward to it. I can’t wait. But man, I do not wanna go to Brazil. You know why? I'm going to tell you why. They already told us not to leave the hotel. They told us we can’t do too much going on because the crime rate is crazy, you know what I'm saying? I’m like ‘NFL, why would you wanna send us somewhere with a crime rate this high?’ We're out the country. The first thing people think is something terrible could happen. I told my family do not come down there," Slay said on a recent episode of his podcast.
You can watch his comments in the video below, and let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.
Unfortunately, Slay ended up apologizing for his comments, despite the fact there wasn't anything wrong with them.
You can see his follow up below.
It's hard to disagree with Slay's initial assessment of the situation. Brazil can be very unsafe depending on where you are in the country.
The country reportedly recorded 40,824 homicides in 2022, robberies are a very real concern and there's also history that must be considered.
We know what happens when American athletes go to Brazil. It can end in an international incident. Multiple American swimmers were essentially robbed/extorted at gunpoint while in Brazil back during the 2016 Olympics in an incident that generated international attention.
The incident involving Ryan Lochte was nothing short of shameful for the country of Brazil, and NFL players have much more fame and money. They're going to have bullseyes on their back, and while I'm sure security will be intense, you can never 100% guarantee someone's safety.
As Slay said, he told his family to not make the trip. That's a pretty good indication he's taking the safety situation very seriously.
Eagles CB Darius Slay rants about having to play in Brazil. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
The game is this Friday night, and we'll have to see if anything wild happens off the field. If I was a player on the Packers or Eagles, I would absolutely not leave the hotel. It's just not worth the risk. Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.