Long would be “absolutely livid” with prospect of travel.
St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long believes it would be “like punishment” for teams to have to travel to London if a new NFL franchise is created.
Speculation continues to strengthen over the possibility that the NFL will look to expand as part of their globalisation plans for the game by introducing a London-based franchise to the league.
However, Long has revealed that he is not a supporter of the idea as he has doubts over how it would work logistically for teams and players to have to travel to London for away games.
“I would be absolutely livid,” Long said, as reported by ESPN.
“I love growing our sport globally, but logistically to put a team through that would be like punishment. They have great fans there and they were super enthusiastic and awesome to everyone when we were there but to ask people to take those road trips every time they do an away game is just ludicrous.”
His comments come on the eve of the Pittsburgh Steelers taking on the Minnesota Vikings at Wembley on Sunday, with the San Francisco 49ers and Jacksonville Jaguars making the trip next month.
Long was a part of the Rams team that lost 45-7 to the New England Patriots in England last year, and his views are echoed by Miami Dolphins cornerback Brent Grimes who bemoaned the logistical problems.
“What about OTAs? What about minicamps? You would really have to move to London,” Grimes said. “London is a cool place, but I don’t know. That would be weird.”
In contrast, there have been players who have supported the idea of making the NFL more global, but it remains to be seen whether or not the aforementioned barriers can be overcome.
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