Roger Goodell’s latest NFL comments on the league’s expansion are drawing attention for the wrong reasons. Goodell said on Germany’s RTL/ntv that he has “no doubt” there will be an international team. Among those criticizing him for the wild take, Pittsburgh Steelers icon James Harrison had a pretty harsh take.

“You’re talking about having a Super Bowl outside of the United States of America … the game is for us. Now you got to get a passport?” Harrison said on Deebo & Joe. “It’s American football. They don’t even call it football. They call football soccer!”

“Not the Super Bowl. Don’t take the Super Bowl from us,” co-host Joe Haden responded.

The league already has a record nine international games in 2026, with games in Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Madrid, Munich and Mexico City. Owners have also approved up to 10 overseas games per season starting in 2027. Teams can also no longer protect their home games from being moved abroad. With an 18-game season a matter of when, now, Roger Goodell is going full steam ahead on expanding the league’s global footprint.

NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly said in May that the international quota could go as high as 16 games per season.

Goodell already has a select few teams making their way to cities like Paris, London, Brazil, Melbourne, and more this year. San Francisco 49ers will make an approximate 15-hour journey to Australia, which will be back-breaking for the players. But with Goodell already having his eyes set on an international Super Bowl, it looks like the league might already have kickstarted things to make it happen.

“There are definitely international cities that could host something like that,” Goodell added. “But we would like to see an NFL team in such a city first.”

But there are quite a few players in the league who do not want to play for an international NFL team. According to a poll conducted by The Athletic in 2023, 55.4% of players refused the idea. 34.9% said yes, and the others said maybe.

Harrison joked that players are paid enough to handle the extra travel involved in international games.

“Hey, that’s y’all problem. Y’all want to cry and complain, and y’all making millions of dollars, man,” Harrison said. “Go over there and play that game for us. Shut up and get on that plane. You get paid a million dollars a week. What are you talking about?”

For now, an international Super Bowl remains a future possibility rather than an immediate NFL plan. The league’s international expansion, however, is already moving forward, and Goodell’s latest comments show just how far the NFL is willing to take it.

Will fans warm up to the decision? We will have to wait and watch.