The Kansas City Chiefs are set to take on the Miami Dolphins in Germany this coming Sunday as part of the NFL International Series.
For a lot of players, this represents their first trip across the pond. It’s no small thing to reach international waters and have to plan accordingly.
We can now include Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling among those who are not necessarily happy about having to head to Frankfurt for a game in the middle of the season.
His reasoning makes sense. It has more to do with planning behind the scenes than anything else.
“It does suck for the players to have to be away from their families, or (I’ve) got to find a babysitter for my dogs for a couple days. Things that we’ve got to take into account. But past that, it is what it is,” the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver said, via CBS Sports.
As an owner of a fur baby, I might recommend that Valdes-Scantling pony up the cash for a dog hotel. They seem to love those vacations. But I digress.
That wasn’t the only issue the wide receiver had with having to travel to Europe for a “home game.”
“Yeah, it sucks,” he said. “I mean, obviously it sucks that we have to travel nine hours for a home game when Arrowhead is right down the street.”
MVS is happy that NFL fandom extends beyond the United States borders, noting that “I know we’ve got a lot of fans over in Germany, so I’m grateful that we get to give them that opportunity.”
Related: Bold predictions for Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins game
On the field, this is going to be one of the better games of the NFL season at its midway point. Both teams sit at 6-2 on the campaign with the Dolphins on a record scoring pace (33.9 PPG).
Meanwhile, the defending champion Chiefs had won six consecutive prior to an ugly showing in a 24-9 loss to the last-place Denver Broncos in Week 8.
As for Marquez Valdes-Scantling, he’s caught 12 passes for 227 yards in eight games this season. Hopefully, missing his bestie won’t impact him too much.