Remember that strange talk last winter of the NFL playing a game in Dublin during this current season? We had a pretty strong feeling it was rubbish talk at the time, given the shortened time scale of setting it up and only an anonymous quote to hang it on, and our instincts were proven correct. Twelve months later, it seems the league may come around to the idea of playing a game here. The NFL's owners voted in October to add another foreign game to the league's season to complement their match in London. But due to logistical issues thrown up by London's hosting of the 2012 Summer Olympics, the NFL seems to be looking for another city to host their second foreign game in the 2012 season. And now for the first time NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has confirmed the NFL is considering a game in Dublin.
Goodell this week sat down with the NFL leading scribe SI's Peter King to a record a state-of-the-league podcast. About seven minutes in, King raised the subject of the league's foreign development and its games in the UK. They had the following exchange:
Goodell: It's clear that there's support for more than one game [in the UK]. The ownership has passed a resolution allowing us to do that. We may do that as early as 2012. We're sort of contemplating that in the context of them hosting the Olympics next summer.
King: So you're not sure if you'll play two games in England in 2012?
Goodell: Not in England in '12. We may, because of the Olympics, look at '13.
King: Next year could it be England and somewhere else in England?
Goodell: Possibly. It might be somewhere else in the UK.
King: It could be in Dan Rooney's backyard.
Goodell: (laughs). Well he's been interested in that.
King: I bet he has. Is it theoretically possible that Rooney could bring the Steelers to Dublin for a game?
Goodell: Sure.
Rooney: Would he want to do that?
Goodell: You know, we had a [preseason] game in the '90s where Chicago and Pittsburgh played, and it was a great success.
King: How about a regular season game with the Steelers?
Goodell: We've not done that, but we think it could be a success. And yes, he has expressed an interest in that.
Goodell makes no commitment to the game but it does certainly seems to be on the agenda. Whether or not HQ have heard any rumblings is anyone's guess, but the NFL is clearly looking for a city beyond London to stage a game next season. It might be Dublin.
Listen to the whole interview here.
