What about us?
Rather, what about the U.S.?
With summer breaks all over the league beginning and the NFL on the brink of hitting its annual lull (honestly, the news cycle never stops), there's enormous attention shifting to the other kind of football. Rather, the sport that most people recognize around the world as "football" or "fútbol" – called soccer.
There's something known as the FIFA World Cup going on if you hadn't heard. It's a big deal. Adding to the coolness factor … it's being played at venues across North America, including 11 NFL stadiums. The United States opened the tournament last Friday with a 4-1 win over Paraguay, and they play Australia this Friday at 2 p.m. (CT) to keep trekking in the group stage before, hopefully (most likely), advancing to the single-game elimination phase. It's not the football we're used to covering, but it's worth watching.
In a recent athlete-sport crossover story, reporters at ESPN surveyed 29 NFL players to get predictions. Does the U.S. stand a chance to win it all? Which country is the favorite? Overwhelmingly, it was France.
Here's an excerpt from the article, which features a Vikings standout with a "footy" background:
"On paper, France has the best team, but the World Cup is always interesting: It's just about who's playing well that day," said Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota, who expects France to win it all and Kylian Mbappé to earn the Golden Boot (the award given to the tournament's top goal scorer). "Their strikers are out of this world. When you've got two premier strikers like that, you've got a chance to score a lot of goals. That gives them an edge."
Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin, on the same page as his No. 2 quarterback, also picked France and Mbappe. Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, who visited France during an offseason and did a jersey swap with Mbappe, is riding with Les Bleus as well.
Cleveland Browns kicker Andre Szmyt agreed, saying, "France is stacked right now." He picked Ousmane Dembélé — the reigning Ballon d'Or winner — to win the Golden Boot.
Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little, too, predicted Dembele and France, adding, "Dembele and Mbappe, gosh, it's going to be hard to stop. I think I'm going to have to go France, legitimately. But, passionately, U.S."
Many NFL kickers played soccer as kids, so they know their stuff, presumably. Vikings [kicker] Will Reichard disagreed with his kicking brethren, saying, "[It's] hard to bet against Brazil. I like the swagginess part of their team."
That's a high-level take because if there's a kicker who is certified swaggy, it's Reichard.