Pittsburgh Steelers S Ryan Clark would rather retire than play for London

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings will square off in what has become an annual NFL matchup in London this Sunday. The annual game has led to speculation about an NFL team playing in London full time and if they could succeed. Would players want to play London? Would they be worried about their families? Would a London based team ever be able to attract top free agents?

Steelers safety Ryan Clark doesn’t think a team in London could compete.

When asked about playing for a team in London, Clark said he’d “definitely retire” before playing for them.

“That team would be asked to travel eight weeks of the season extremely far away,” Clark told ESPN via Pro Football Talk. “It would be extremely tough to ask. I don’t know if guys want to relocate their families, have their families educated in London, have their families relocate to London. It just seems like a hard deal for players to do. I can’t see unrestricted top notch top caliber free agents wanting to go to London to play football.”

Clark did say he has no problem with traveling over to London for the game Sunday.