The 2025 NFL international slate will once again send teams overseas, just like last year and the year before. But this season features a record seven regular-season games spread across five different countries. The league evidently continues to push its global expansion, with new markets like the UAE and Greece recently added as future possibilities.
Advertisement
Not everyone is on board with the change, however. Playing in unfamiliar environments can be a real concern, as we saw last season when Packers QB Jordan Love went down against the Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil. The turf looked shaky all game, tearing up under players’ feet, and many argued it played a role in Love’s lower-leg injury that sidelined him for the next two weeks.
So yes, international games bring excitement, but they also bring risks. And Lamar Jackson has his own reservations, though his reasons have nothing to do with the turf.
During his appearance on Sundae Conversations with Caleb Pressley, Jackson could hardly catch his breath, laughing at the host’s quips and perfectly set-up traps to make him crack. Even Pressley let out a rare laugh of his own.
There was also a moment when the Baltimore Ravens QB shifted to a more serious tone while answering a question about where he stands on NFL expansion.
“I mean, it’s pretty cool, you know, just putting out names out there in different countries, or other people who are fans of the game, get to see us play,” Jackson said. Pressley then asked him which countries he wouldn’t play an international game in.
“Where they’re having wars. I don’t wanna go anywhere where there’s wars at, you know,” Jackson said. “Yeah, I’d rather stay in the US and let them [countries at war], you know, sort everything out.”
So yeah, Jackson’s not exactly “throwing bombs anywhere there’s wars,” anytime soon, as Pressley joked. He’s also not “breaking any Russian records in Moscow,” as the comedian added.
In his eight-year career so far, Jackson has played just one international game. That was a London matchup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against the Tennessee Titans in October 2023, which Jackson’s team won 24-16. Surely, he’d love to play another game across the Atlantic in the near future.
The Ravens don’t have any overseas games scheduled for 2025, but since they were granted international marketing rights in the UK (in April this year) as part of the league’s Global Markets Program, a future game is very likely. And with the country being completely war-free, Jackson shouldn’t mind hopping across the pond again.
