PARIS — There always are two sides of the coin for NFL international games. And this week, that coin is a Euro.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy did get some sleep on the flight to France from Pittsburgh, but there was no rest upon his arrival. He went straight to a press conference Friday with both local and international reporters, peppering him with questions on everything from coaching his hometown team to bringing the sport of football to a new country.
It's a business trip, yes, but it's not in a place the Steelers typically do business. In fact, the NFL has never staged a game in France until now, and only two teams get to partake in it.
"This is a big deal for us," McCarthy said. "We're excited to represent the NFL and our game and to bring it here to France. We know we've got excellent competition in the Saints. This is a big game for both teams. You have to win these games in October as you get into these winter months. There's a lot of extra that goes into this game, no doubt about it."
Steelers-Saints is also a standalone game on the league schedule, kicking off at 9:30 a.m. Pittsburgh time and 2:30 p.m. at Stade de France. Usually, those slots for the Steelers fall in prime time or on a holiday, but nonetheless, the entire football-watching world will be tuned into it.
And at least one member of the Danish media expressed his appreciation for the Steelers' young offensive line. Even in Denmark they know you have to control the line of scrimmage.
"It's definitely special," McCarthy said. "I know, just in my experience in the National Football League, when you play on national TV, when you're the game of the week, it means a lot to the organization, the fans, the players, the coaches. And now we get to come to Paris for the first time, so absolutely, this is a big deal."
The Steelers did have to adjust their schedule on the fly, quite literally, as inclement weather hit the area Friday. But they planned for that possibility coming into the week, so they made the call on the plane to not practice outside at Stade de France as planned.
Instead they rolled into their hotel and got the players moving with as much space as they could find. Any chance to "activate" the team coming off of a long flight was significant for McCarthy.
"I think the biggest thing is we tried to work the front end of the schedule just to give them more time to sleep Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday going into the trip, just with all the meetings we had with our medical staff and strength and conditioning. We felt that would benefit," McCarthy said. "And the obvious was to get as much sleep as you can on the way over here. We have a day planned here just to keep them going, and then try to get on a normal schedule once we get post-6 p.m."
To that point, McCarthy got a big laugh out of the room when he joked that he wishes the Steelers could've been here all week, given that he's never been. But the ultimate goal is to add another victory to the win column.
And it was part of McCarthy's philosophy to keep the normalcy back home for as long as possible. Considerations included playing on the road the week before, at Tampa Bay, and then having a divisional game the following Sunday against Cleveland.
"I think it's really personal preference," McCarthy said. "I've done this a long time. I think there are variables with where you live, how you train, where you're going, all those things — the youth of your team, how old is your team. I think when you look at all those things, you make a sound decision. I don't think it's a right or wrong."
It's a challenge, too, but one McCarthy has embraced. And he even tied it back to an earlier stop in his career when he was the quarterbacks coach for, coincidentally enough, the Saints.
McCarthy was instrumental in developing Jake Delhomme, who went undrafted in 1997. He then took his game from the New Orleans practice squad to NFL Europe, and came back as a reliable backup when McCarthy arrived in 2000.
"The ability for quarterbacks to come over and have that experience was so valuable," McCarthy said. "I know that was really the start of our game being exposed here in Europe. I've never worked with any player or coach who didn't have a positive experience over here with NFL Europe.
"That was a great time, I felt, in the National Football League — especially if it gave players another chance, and it definitely helped our teams back there in the area of development of players, too. Now to be over here to play for real, I'm really looking forward to Sunday."
