Are Eagles banned from wearing green jerseys in Brazil? Reports details major caveat for Packers game in South America
The Philadelphia Eagles are nominally hosting the Green Bay Packers in the first NFL game to be hosted in Brazil on Sept. 6, but there's a catch: they cannot wear their usual home uniforms.
That's because soccer club Corinthians, which owns the Neo Quimica Arena that will host the game, has a ban on the color green, which is associated with bitter intracity rivals Palmeiras. In fact, forward Jo was fined in 2021 for wearing green shoes to a game, which he tried to explain as them being "turquoise blue".
Even if the Eagles were to don white, the Packers also face a bind, as their primary uniforms are also green. The likeliest scenario is that they will respectively be wearing black and white.
Eagles slight favorites in Brazil showdown vs. Packers
Meanwhile, it's still almost five months away, but bookies are predicting a close win for the "hosts" in Sao Paulo.
FanDuel gives the 2022-23 NFC champions a 1.5-point edge, with the over/under sitting at 48.5, but each team is potentially going in different paths.
After dominating in their first 11 games at 10-1, the Eagles collapsed, going 1-5 in their last six, were routed 32-9 in the Wild Card Round at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the aftermath, coordinators Brian Johnson and Sean Desai were ditched to make room for Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio respectively.
The Packers, meanwhile, had low expectations after trading Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, but newly promoted Jordan Love overachieved in his first full season as starter and brought the team all the way to the Divisional Round.
Nevertheless, there's still plenty that can happen between now and September 6. In particular, both teams have the NFL Draft to turn attention to, with both needing an offensive lineman after some notable departures - Jason Kelce and David Bakhtiari especially.
Preparations are already underway with spring camp, with two-time Pro Bowl guard Elgton Jenkins recently saying:
“We’ve just got to work This offseason, I feel like guys did what they’re supposed to do. Everybody’s in the right headspace.
"They want to come to OTAs, build camaraderie as a team, and just ball, for real. That’s all it takes. Putting in that work and making sure you’re ready to compete on Sundays.”
Full schedules for the 2024-25 season have yet to be announced.