Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt’s wife, Dani, is openly taking issue with the NFL’s decision to play in Paris amid violent unrest and increased security concerns.
Despite turmoil in the French capital and throughout the country, the NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints is expected to proceed as planned. Rioting over living expenses and subpar school conditions has resulted in cars and buildings being set on fire, businesses being damaged or looted, and almost 2,400 arrests nationally over the weekend, including 855 in the Paris area.
Sebastian Roche, a research professor at the Sciences Po Grenoble political institute who studies policing, told to the Associated Press that the activists have been targeting symbols of capitalism and the global economy, while looters have targeted sportswear and technology stores to steal merchandise.
All of this has Dani Watt, a retired NWSL player, and wife of Steelers star T.J. Watt, to question why the NFL game is still happening in Paris.
On Monday, she posted a copy of a report from CBS Pittsburgh to her Instagram account. The article’s headline reads: “The NFL says it is continuing forward with plans for the upcoming Steelers-Saints game amid unrest in Paris.”
“Tell me how this one makes sense???” Dani Watt wrote in a caption over a screenshot of the story. Her husband, T.J., is scheduled to take a charter flight to France with his Steelers teammates on Thursday and will be staying just outside the city center, on the outskirts of Versailles.
The NFL announced that additional security will be in place for Sunday’s game in Paris
“There’s nothing more important from our standpoint than the teams’ security, the fans’ security — everybody involved with this game,” Executive VP of club business, international and league events Peter O’Reilly said at the Fall League Meeting. “Obviously being very vigilant in everything we do, in all of our planning on an hour-by-hour basis, working closely with the two teams.”
According to O’Reilly, officials are working with the U.S. State Department as well as national and Parisian authorities. O’Reilly added that the game was never in jeopardy of not taking place at Stade de France.
“We feel confident that we would not have any impact on the broader resources needed,” O’Reilly said. “That’s always top of mind for us, and we feel confident that we wouldn’t be depleting resources in a negative way around this game.”
While many NFL fans agreed with Dani Watt’s concerns on social media, apparently New Orleans Saints stars Cam Jordan and Alvin Kamara are less worried. They spent Tuesday night watching Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League win over Barcelona at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris.