PRESNAP Week 7 cover. The Vigée Le Brun portrait of Marie Antoinette, holding a football in her gloved hand instead of a rose. Cover lines read: Steelers vs. Saints Preview, Laissez-Les Regarder Le Match, Could Anything Stop Roger Goodell?, Let Them Watch Ball.
Cover Art by John Lytle

Laissez-Les Regarder Le Match

Week 7 By John Lytle

When asked about their upcoming matchup against the Saints, Mike McCarthy, Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, answered, “We’re aware of the situations over there, and have a lot of confidence in our plan.”

It may seem like McCarthy is alluding to their defensive gameplan for the Saints passing attack, but he’s actually talking about how his team will prepare for historic, nationwide protests across France, the site of their upcoming matchup. For some reason, Mike McCarthy (the same man who occupied the blue medical tent for all of halftime with a sprained ankle in Tampa Bay last week) is in charge of the Steelers’ de-escalation tactics. People close to the team said that the Steelers have been getting light exposure to different forms of tear gas in practice, and Aaron Rogers has been studying up on the Gilets Jaunes.

Unlike Mike McCarthy, I am very unprepared to navigate the landscape of French politics, but with the unprecedented timing of this event, where the NFL’s “mini Super Bowl” lands in France the same week the country enters a period of social reckoning, it appears PRESNAP is forced to cover this event and find out what this means for professional football. I debated even covering this topic since we already covered the NFL’s international expansion in Week 4, but it felt too big to ignore, so please bear with me as I try to navigate these tricky waters.

The timing could not be worse for the NFL. This is the first-ever NFL game France has hosted, and the league planned to introduce themselves purposefully, producing activations around the city and launching targeted partnerships with iconic Parisian franchises like PSG. The NFL brought their most French-ish franchise, the New Orleans Saints, but like the Louisiana Purchase, I think the French have once again gotten fleeced by being forced to watch Tyler Shough play the Quarterback position. Shough aside, this week was intended to hopefully spark a longstanding union with France since they are a priority market for the NFL, but after last weekend’s demonstrations against the cost of living crisis turned violent, many believed the game, and the festivities, would be cancelled.

This included members of the media, like Boomer Esiason, who voiced his concerns on his show Boomer and Gio, “If you want to amplify your unrest, the best way to do it would be around an NFL football game in France.”

Players, too, are worried. Steelers Safety Jaquan Brisker said “it looks crazy out there.” Aaron Rogers, who is notoriously loose-lipped, has yet to say anything about the situation. Currently tied with Peyton Manning for career touchdown passes, Rogers may be preoccupied at the moment.

The point is fans, players, media seem confused, and for good reason. All weekend, we witnessed footage of France going up in flames, and common sense would have you believe that a massive celebration of American-sponsored violence with a $150 get-in price is probably not the best Marianne olive branch to a population protesting a rising cost-of-living.

The Marianne statue at Place de la République against a smoke-filled sky, a yellow vest tied across her shoulders reading: la police mutile les lycéen·nes.

But this is the NFL. They are a league that has conquered nearly half of the weekly calendar, multiple holidays, and close to nothing will ever stop them from cancelling a game. In recent memory, only one event has led to a cancellation: the Demar Hamlin incident in 2023. Even in the face of death, Goodell took 3 days to deliberate before he surrendered and chose cancellation.

Goodell has remained confident that this week’s activities will remain safe for fans and for players, but the evidence tells a more nuanced story, one that is quite concerning. Curfews have curtailed activity during the week, but this weekend, demonstrations are being planned to ramp back up, in close proximity to key events being held by the NFL. Looking at an online map circulated by the Gilets Jaunes, there is a demonstration planned in the suburb of Gennevillers, less than 10 minutes away from the Stade de France in Saint Denis, and dozens more demonstrations are planned south of the stadium as you approach Paris, including two just blocks away from the “NFL House” on Rue Cambon, a pop-up activation for visiting fans.

The base of the Place de la République monument, carved with the word Liberté, as a masked protester holds a French flag above a statue whose face has been painted with black tears.

This is clearly concerning, and on a week when player safety in international games is under an increasingly bigger microscope with the fallout from Jalen Hurts’ blood clots unraveling in real time, it makes you wonder how far Goodell and the NFL are willing to go to fulfill their goals at world domination.

What makes their insistence on seeing this through even more puzzling is the game that they are choosing to defend: Saints vs. Steelers? This is going to be a horrible game. This is one of the international games you’ll forget was even happening, then you’ll realize you started Michael Pittman on accident in your fantasy league and you can’t sub him out, then turn on the game at 11 AM with 5 minutes left in the 3rd, see it’s 9-6, and turn the game back off. This is what we’re putting people at risk for?

Jokes aside, wishing this is a safe week for everyone involved, and I’m sure I will be off base for the second week in a row (Chargers prediction is not aging well).

Saints vs. Steelers, Stade de France, 9:30 AM ET Kickoff, NFL Network. Kurt Warner and Jason Kelce on the call? Didn’t know that was the crew, definitely miss this one if you can.