Philadelphia Eagles QB Tanner McKee spent 21 months in Brazil. Here's what he told his teammates.
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — If any player in the NFL knows how massive the league playing a game in Brazil is, it's Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee.
No player has walked a mile on the Brazilian streets like McKee, who spent 21 months living in Curitiba and Sao Paulo as part of his missionary service for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before playing at Stanford University.
McKee knows everything a person in Brazil needs to know. During his two missions in the country, the Eagles QB learned to speak Portuguese (and still speaks it fluidly). He hasn't been back since, yet he's more than excited to return to a country that has played a significant role in his life.
"I've been hitting up a bunch of my friends," McKee said. "I know some people that are going to try to come to the game. It means a lot. I'm excited for the guys to be around that culture. It'll be fun for the whole team to experience the culture. It's an amazing culture."
The NFL is playing in Brazil for the first time, as the Eagles and Green Bay Packers will play in the first contest in South America. A league that is trying to globalize the game, Brazil is the third-largest market with 38 million followers for American football in the world. The United States is first, followed by Mexico, then Brazil.
The NFL's coming to Brazil is massive for the country. It is a chance for Brazil to show how it will embrace a game it has grown to love.
"I think they'll definitely love it," McKee said. "It's similar to the city of Philadelphia. Any time you show a little bit of love, they're going to love you back 10 times more. And so, just having an NFL team there and present, the fans are going to love it.
"I've had hundreds of people, just when we announced that we're going to play in the game, hundreds of Brazilians following me on social media, hitting me up, asking me questions. So I think it's going to be a lot of fun being there."
Is American football played in Brazil?
Brazil does have a professional American football league, the Superliga of Nacional de Futbol Americano. The league consists of 15 teams, including a team in São Paulo. McKee was close to the Coritiba Crocodiles when he lived in Brazil, speaking at their practices and talking with them about playing football in the United States.
"Each state would have a team. And it was kind of like a semi-pro team," McKee said. "But because there weren't so many so-called football programs, everybody played for the one team in that one state. So you'd have high school kids playing with 45-year-olds. It was an interesting dynamic."
How Brazilians would learn to play American football was even more intriguing.
"It was crazy because a lot of them would learn plays on Madden," McKee said. "A lot of them would learn English just so they can use football terminology. So you'd have them speak Portuguese and then be like, 'Oh, I'm going to do a 'stick' route.' Or you're hearing Portuguese and then 'fade.' And you're like, 'OK, that makes sense.' I remember them like, 'Draw up a play that you would do against Cover-2.' It's really interesting."
American football is a game Brazil is still learning, making the Eagles and Packers' appearance there even more significant. The national fans will learn aplenty about a sport that's growing in their country.
"They don't really understand the rules, but they're excited that we're coming down there to be a part of it," McKee said. "It's a lot of fun. But then there are people I know down there who have played the game, who are excited to see what the level of the NFL brings. I think it'll be really cool to bring something to Brazil that has never happened before."
The dangers of Brazil
McKee has discussed some things with his Eagles teammates about the "dos and don't dos" while in Brazil. Violent crime — including armed robbery and mugging — is common, especially in areas with large populations. The Eagles will spend most of their time in the hotel or at Arena Corinthians.
Even though the Eagles are playing it safe, McKee doesn't want people to judge a book by its cover.
"I think it's better to be safe than sorry," McKee said. "Being cautious, I think, is smart. I also think it's easy to get scared of things you don't know, so we're just being very cautious just in case. I think that's a good approach. But I think guys will be pleasantly surprised at how nice everybody is."
McKee also has some advice for his teammates, which can apply anywhere.
"I would say no matter where you go, if you're a football team, you probably shouldn't walk around a big city with cash in your hand or things like that," McKee said. "It makes sense to take precautions."
The color green and the informal ban
Of course, there's the whole aspect of wearing green in Arena Corinthians. The Eagles will don their black helmets for the first time with the white jerseys and black pants, creating layers of what this new uniform combination means for the Brazil game.
Corinthians Arena, home to the Brazilian soccer team Corinthians, wears black and white. Wearing black ensures peace and welcome to the home fans attending the event. The Eagles have as little green in this uniform combination as possible, only having it on the wordmark and numbers in the white jersey. The cleats and socks will also be white with a black outline. Remember, the Eagles are the "home" team, hence using as little green as possible.
Corinthians' biggest rival is Palmeiras, which wears the color green. Corinthians has an informal ban on wearing green, which applies to players and fans in Corinthians Arena. There are signs around the stadium stating the color is "forbidden."
"I was talking to some people and a lot of people are like 'You can't wear green. It's the Eagles and Packers,'" McKee said. "I was talking to some of my friends in Brazil and they're like, 'Of course you can't wear green because it's the rivalry.'
"That's just like very normal to them, and we're like, 'Oh my gosh, if you wear green, it's a big thing.' But they're like, 'You're playing in Corinthians Stadium, they hate Palmeiras, so you can't wear green.' So that's very normal for that culture...It's basically like if we banned blue in our stadium. That's kind of the comparison. It is what it is, I think it's kinda cool they take it to heart."
"I know they are diehards for whatever they are supporting. I think it's gonna be a lot of fun, it's gonna be really loud."