The NFL's International Series will continue in 2014 with three games scheduled in London.
The Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins are up first with a Sept. 28 matchup at Wembley Stadium. Raiders running back Maurice Jones-Drew played in the most recent London game during his final season with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Week 8 bout vs. the San Francisco 49ers. Jones-Drew was asked by BritviewNFL.com's Neil Reynolds if London was ready for a full-time NFL franchise.
"You know what? I think they deserve one," Jones-Drew said. "It's just the toll it takes on the body because it's so hard to fly across the pond. I think the fans deserve it and London deserves it because it is a great city.
"My only worry is the toll it would take for a team to go back and forth and how would you get that done?" he continued. "There are some things they would have to work on -- they might have to bring the Concorde back and cut that time in half. But you never know."
(Tangibly related note: The Concorde was an awesome machine.)
Raiders quarterback Matt Schaub -- who will be playing his first overseas game -- had even stronger feelings on the topic.
"Absolutely," he said of an NFL team in London. "I think that is definitely in the future."
MJD's comments might represent the biggest challenge to taking the NFL's global investment further. The NFL Players Association could throw up a road block and argue overseas travel asks too much of the players. This would be a challenging sell for the league.
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