No, your green jersey won’t be banned at the Eagles game in Brazil, NFL says

Yes, you can bring your green Eagles jersey to São Paulo, and, yes, you can even wear your green Eagles jersey inside Corinthians Arena.

Despite what you may have read online, and despite what you may have heard from Josh Jacobs, whose voice gave credence to the rumors considering that his Green Bay Packers will be playing against the Eagles on Sept. 6 in Brazil, “you will see a stadium full of fans wearing the green of the Eagles and the green of the Packers,” NFL spokesperson Michael Signora said Thursday.

That came in response to a request for comment about what Jacobs said on the podcast of former Eagles defensive end Chris Long.

Jacobs, a running back who signed with the Packers this offseason, said on Long’s podcast that green was not allowed to be worn in “the part of Brazil we’re going to,” saying it had “something to do with the gangs.”

The topic of green being barred started as soon as the Eagles were announced as the first of the two teams heading to Brazil for the NFL’s first game there.

The arena is home to São Paulo’s Corinthians soccer team. Crosstown rival Palmeiras wears green, and the Derby Paulista (English translation: Derby of São Paulo) is one of the fiercest rivalries in the sport. There is an informal ban on wearing green for soccer games in the stadium, though sometimes it’s formal. Corinthians striker Jo was once fined for wearing green cleats.

But “discussion of the color green is related to soccer” and will have no impact on the NFL game, Signora said.

Plus, wearing green inside Corinthians Arena, as Palmeiras does, isn’t unprecedented. The stadium was built for the 2014 World Cup and hosted the opening ceremony and Brazil’s 3-1 victory over Croatia in the opening match. And while Brazil’s national team wore bright yellow, there were plenty of Brazilian fans in the crowd wearing the green that makes up a majority of the South American country’s flag.

Jacobs also said players would likely not be able to leave the hotel and would travel in armored vehicles.

In response on Friday, Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown wrote on X before deleting the post, “The million dollar question is … IF WE CAN’T GO ANYWHERE OR WEAR A CERTAIN COLOR … Why Are WE GOING ?”

Signora denied Jacobs’ claims, saying “it’s not true.”

The X (formerly Twitter) account of a Brazilian community of Eagles fans suggested that the jersey controversy started as a joke when a Corinthians representative mused that the teams avoid wearing green, and São Paulo mayor Ricardo Nunes even joked about the jersey colors at a recent news conference.

“It’s well known that, as this is a separate event, Corinthians and their supporters will respect the team and its visitors like any other event,” the Brazilian Eagles community wrote on X. “We will also make sure to treat the stadium like our own home.”

Regarding security concerns in the metro area of 24 million people, the account wrote: “São Paulo is a vast metropolis, one of the largest in the world. Like many other big cities, it faces social inequality and crime. Any foreigner should be mindful of this, just as someone from a small town in the USA would need to be cautious when visiting cities like NY or LA. This doesn’t mean you’ll be targeted for wearing green. However, like any big city, there’s a risk of being mugged if you’re not careful with your belongings or surroundings.

“Telling players not to wear green is unnecessary and the ‘gang references’ reinforces stereotypes that only escalates prejudice.”

As for what jerseys the teams will actually wear on the field? That’s still unknown.

It is technically an Eagles home game, so they will have their choice between green or black. The team has not yet made a decision.