The Eagles will play in Brazil to begin the 2024 NFL season, and there are two main complaints.

1) The Birds will be the home team, and therefore lose a game at Lincoln Financial Field. 2) It’s a Friday night to begin the season, they have to travel to Sao Paulo, and it just feels “weird.”

Reasonable concerns, sure, but who really gives a shit? This is such a unique moment and cool opportunity. Nobody should be overly worried about either one of those things. You’ll get plenty of opportunities to drink piss water in Jetro and watch Sunday football. As Jeffrey Lurie noted in a statement on Monday night, it’s an honor to play in Brazil:

“The Eagles organization is honored to have been selected to play in the first-ever National Football League game in South America. With the global growth of our sport being a top priority to our league, we embrace the opportunity to grow our fanbase around the world and bring Eagles football to the 38 million sports fans in Brazil. As one of the world’s most culturally diverse nations, Brazil is an international melting pot, and we look forward to experiencing its warm, vibrant and welcoming environment later this year.”

It is absolutely an honor. From now until the sun collapses and incinerates the Earth, we’ll be able to say that the Eagles were first on the Brazilian wagon. Not only is there massive potential in growing the brand on another continent, but playing in South America should be seen as a privilege in my mind. Why? Because some of the best fans in the world live down there. This is the country of Anderson Silva, Pele, Jose Aldo, Sepultura, and Ronaldo (the original one, not the crybaby playing in Saudi). They will turn this entire thing into one big party. South America has some of the best crowds in the world for sports, music, anything really. The Copacabana will become the Delcopacabana.* The thought of Philly fans mingling with Brazilians is great. This game will be so loud and so crazy that Georgia vs. Alabama will feel like Slippery Rock vs. Millersville.

Plus, Sao Paulo is an incredible city. It makes Philadelphia look like Scranton. Seriously, there are 12 million people there. It is the largest city in all of the Americas, even larger than Mexico City, so for people traveling down there, it’s gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’d very easily trade another Lincoln Financial Field game for a chance to see the Eagles in a foreign country. Come on people! You only live once. Folks in this area are boring and don’t travel enough anyway. Wildwood doesn’t count. This is an amazing opportunity to see the Birds play in a new city and in a new country that you will probably never see again.

We’re so stuffy and bland in this town sometimes. We do the same things, go to the same places, and believe the same thoughts. For once we should not be crusty whiners and embrace something new and different. Sport is global now, whether you want to accept it or not. We have football games in the UK, Germany, and Mexico. Major League Baseball is sending the Phillies to London and the Dodgers/Padres to Seoul. This is the trend in 2024.

And let’s not act like home field advantage is the be all, end all. The Eagles were 5-4 on the road this year and 7-1 last year. Compare that to 6-2 and 7-2 at home, respectively. There really is not some massive difference between the way they’ve performed at and away from Lincoln Financial Field. It’s the playoff home games that really matter, and if the Birds start 0-1 in Brazil and can’t recover over the course of the next 16 games, then they’ve got bigger problems to worry about.

Editor’s note: I know the Copacabana is in Rio and not Sao Paulo. We’re trying to make the jokes work. Just roll with it.