Rams, Chiefs players not willing to play on field in Mexico

If the NFL fails to relocate Monday night’s game between the Rams and Chiefs, then there might not even be a game at all.

As it turns out, NFL fans might be getting robbed of what could potentially be the game of the year.

The Los Angeles Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs, arguably the best teams in their respective NFC and AFC conferences, are scheduled to play in a prime time matchup on Monday Night Football — a game that could have an impact on whether or not these two teams are able to lock up home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

There is just one problem. The game is supposed to take place at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City as part of the NFL’s international games. But the field is an absolute wreck, and according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, players from both teams have said that they are thinking about not even playing in the game if it does not get relocated.

These aren’t the kind of field conditions any NFL game should be played on, much less a game that could be a possible Super Bowl preview. Supposedly, field conditions became an utter disaster following a concert that took place just nine days before the Rams and Chiefs were scheduled to play at Azteca Stadium.

The players are absolutely right to have this mindset. There is no reason they should set foot on that field when it could greatly increase the risk of injury in a sport where injuries already seem to happen far too frequently.

If the NFL is smart, then it will just move the game to the L.A. Coliseum, where it should’ve been played in the first place. If the league insists on playing games in foreign countries, then those countries should get teams that not many people care to watch anyway. Not many people are going to bat an eye if a game between, say, the Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills is played in Mexico City.

But for a game between the Rams and the Chiefs? There is no excuse for playing that game anywhere outside the United States.

And if the NFL actually intends to make the Rams and Chiefs play on that field surface, then that’s just even more shame the league is bringing upon itself.