By Nathan Kamal Edwards
Contributing Sports Writer
Jacksonville Jaguars legend and popular color analyst Maurice Jones-Drew has revealed his prediction for the NFL's first attempt to launch an international team: Mexico City.
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Jones-Drew recently sat down for an interview with James Brizuela of L.A. Sports Report, covering a recent visit to London where the three-time Pro Bowl player met and trained with United States military members at Royal Air Force Lakenheath Military Base.
When asked his thoughts as to what city the NFL might pick for its first pro team overseas, Jones-Drew had an immediate thought.
"I would say Mexico City would probably have a team first just because you could practice in the States and then play in Mexico City and then kind of get that vibe going a little bit."
The NFL has been looking to expand the popularity of American football into a global obsession for years now, seeking to go head-to-head with more internationally played sports like soccer and baseball.
Currently, the NFL is expanding its global reach through the International Series, which is played in the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, and soon, Spain. Many pundits have predicted that London would be the first city to receive a full franchise, but Jones-Drew is less certain of that.
The former Jaguar and current Los Angeles Ram analyst explained, "It will be tough to put a team in London. I think you'd have to put a division in London for it to work right, so it would have to be a division in Europe, so you have to think about Paris [and] Spain."
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Specifically, it seems that Mexico City's geographic proximity to the United States is the NFL legend's primary predictive point. According to him, the necessity of 10 to 12-hour flights from West Coast teams to go to London or Europe would likely be a deal breaker for NFL owners, at least at first.
Instead, Jones-Drew thinks that the NFL will expand itself in Europe via four divisions that would play each other and eventually compete with American teams on their own turf in the future.
It seems inevitable that the NFL will announce a franchise outside of the continental United States in the near future, but it is far less certain whether the game will translate to other nations in the same way as America.
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