PARIS \u2014 Jaylen Warren checked quite a few boxes during his weekend trip overseas.<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Steelers running back got to spend time with some family. He was able to do a little sightseeing. He even had a 100-yard rushing game.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, he helped his team earn a win.<\/p>\n
But Warren had one regret about his 56 hours or so in France\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really wanted to see the Eiffel Tower,\u201d Warren said after the Steelers\u2019 16-10 win against the New Orleans Saints at Stade de France. \u201cI haven\u2019t got to see that yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI might have to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most associated with the Steelers likewise want to come back after they took part in the NFL\u2019s first regular-season game in Paris. Though the weekend was not without its anxiety \u2014 protests across the city and all of France had at times turned violent in recent weeks \u2014 the Steelers enjoyed what was their third international regular-season game in franchise history.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just thought the whole atmosphere, the field, the stadium, was impressive,\u201d Steelers coach Mike McCarthy said. \u201cTop-notch. It\u2019s been a joy to play here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though the Saints arrived in Paris early Monday, the Steelers chose to stay in Pittsburgh until after Thursday\u2019s practice. They arrived to their hotel late Friday morning and worked out in the hotel ballroom because a wind storm compelled McCarthy to cancel that day\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n
With protests planned for Saturday, the Steelers urged players after practice to stay within close proximity of their hotel in the heart of Paris. That limited tourism opportunities, but many players still made their way through town Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got out a little bit,\u201d guard Mason McCormick said. \u201cUltimately, we were here to win a game, though. And so it was an awesome (trip). I got to see a couple cool things (in Paris).\u201d<\/p>\n
After spending 22 seasons in the NFL, star quarterback Aaron Rodgers was too savvy to earnestly answer a question about if the Steelers\u2019 Paris experience was better than that of their game in Dublin last year. They also won that one, 24-21 against the Minnesota Vikings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI prefer the Guinness to any of the beers in France,\u201d Rodgers said, referencing the beer ubiquitously associated with Ireland. \u201cNo offense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a great time in Ireland \u2014 a fantastic time,\u201d Rodgers continued. \u201cAnd we had a great time here.\u201d<\/p>\n
So did tens of thousands of Pittsburghers, as well as probably about that many Steelers fans from all other parts of the globe. Steelers jerseys and Terrible Towels were impossible to miss all over Paris throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n
That was reflected, of course, in the 80,000-seat Stade de France during the game Sunday. However, unlike last year when Dublin\u2019s Croke Park might as well have been Acrisure Stadium, on Sunday there was also a large contingent of Saints fans on hand.<\/p>\n
This was likely in part because the Saints have marketing rights to France and they were the designated \u201chome\u201d team Sunday, whereas the Steelers had those factor in their favor last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fans were absolutely incredible,\u201d Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt said. \u201cObviously, two totally different situations (from last year in Dublin).<\/p>\n
\u201cBut our fans always show up. I don\u2019t know why we\u2019re surprised when we come to Europe and it\u2019s Steeler Nation so strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
No poll \u2014 as unscientific as it would have been \u2014 was taken during Sunday\u2019s game to measure the presence of each team\u2019s fanbases. The in-game announcers and scoreboard did, however, at one point elicit cheers to measure if fans were residents of the U.S. or France.<\/p>\n
The American contingent sounded much louder. And odds are that most of the tourists from the U.S. had more than the one full, dawn-to-dusk day to enjoy in Paris than the Steelers players did (Saturday).<\/p>\n
This was much to Rodgers\u2019 chagrin; he openly lamented that the Steelers did not spend more time across the proverbial pond.<\/p>\n
That decision was McCarthy\u2019s, one he says he does not regret \u2014 especially so, after his itinerary produced a victory.<\/p>\n
After all, this was a business trip. The time for a romantic getaway to the City of Light can come later.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrance is a beautiful place,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cThis is my first time here. I would love the opportunity some day to come back and enjoy it. My wife loves Paris. It\u2019s a beautiful country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS \u2014 Jaylen Warren checked quite a few boxes during his weekend trip overseas. The Pittsburgh Steelers running…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-314307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}