By Dionte Daniel, Assistant Sports Editor 

For years, the NFL has been trying to spread its game around the world. With the league starting to play more games overseas, we are slowly getting there. However, this brings us to an issue the NFL needs to address with its expansion. What is global growth going to do to its players? 

The NFL will be playing 9 international games this season in seven countries on 4 different continents. There will be many people that are able to see an NFL game in their own country this season. 

I understand why they want to do this. It will allow more people to watch TV and gain interest in the sport. The NFL is already the biggest sports league in America. Why not spread it further?  

Players are what will allow the league to grow internationally, and who will suffer from these long trips. 

Jalen Hurts played in the NFLs first game in London on Oct. 11th vs the Jacksonville Jaguars. He flew out to England less than 2 days before the game and had a blood clot found in his left calf. He was cleared to play and played in the Eagles loss 19-17. 

After further testing, it was found that he had blood clots in both of his lungs. He is expected to miss the rest of the season and potentially could be career-ending. 

There are questions being asked about why the Eagles decided to play him in that game. The NFL and NFLPA said they will be looking into this situation. 

It has not been confirmed that flying overseas is what caused the blood clot. It was stated that he got it from an injury he suffered the week before against the Los Angeles Rams. 

We should be asking why they sent their team to England though. 

Playing football takes your body through so much. You must recover from injuries and learn new defenses week by week. 

Traveling to play in other countries can take a toll on the body. Long flights and time zones will cause players to not get enough sleep and recover properly. The 49ers and Rams played each other in Australia this past Sunday which is almost 8,000 miles away from America. 

Every team must play on the road but crossing the ocean is different. 

They also have to worry about competition when coming back from a trip to Europe. If you do not have a bye week, you are not going to have enough time to recover from that flight. 

I do not think we should stop playing in other countries. 

Football should be able to expand outside of the U.S. Why shouldn’t there be other people who can enjoy this sport in their home country? I know the NFL will sell tickets to games overseas and they will always pack the stadium. 

Just allow the players more time to recover from these games.

We have the money to do this and allow our players to recover from long trips. We shouldn’t stop playing in other countries, but we need to start allowing players to recover after those games. 

If the NFL can make it happen around the world, why can’t they allow their players to recover? 

Growing the sport should not hurt our players.