{"id":48022,"date":"2025-05-14T02:30:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T02:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022"},"modified":"2025-05-14T02:30:36","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T02:30:36","slug":"breaking-mike-tomlin-speaks-out-on-steelers-playing-in-ireland-after-opponent-reveal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Mike Tomlin Speaks out on Steelers Playing in Ireland After Opponent Reveal.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2177155666-3.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2177155666-3.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2177155666-3.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2177155666-3.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Mike Tomlin Dublin Game\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"614\" data-dom-ready-time=\"627\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed playing in Ireland during the 2025 NFL regular season.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The NFL announced Tuesday the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0will face the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0in Dublin, Ireland during Week 4 of the 2025 NFL season. Hours after the announcement, the Steelers released a video of head coach Mike Tomlin sharing what the game will mean to him.<\/p>\n<p>Because of the setting, it won\u2019t be the typical Week 4 matchup in the league.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are unbelievably excited about this opportunity to play in Dublin,\u201d\u00a0Tomlin said in a video the team released on its YouTube channel. \u201cIt is an honor and a privilege to represent the game of American football internationally and maybe introduce it to a new set of fans. It is a great honor to play the game we love and be able to do so on foreign soil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers will serve as the home team in the Dublin, Ireland matchup with the Vikings.\u00a0Steelers-Vikings will kick off\u00a0at Croke Park at 9:30 AM ET on Sunday, Sept. 28.<\/p>\n<p>The matchup will air on NFL Network and stream on NFL+.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Mike Tomlin, Steelers Hosting Vikings in Dublin, Ireland Matchup<\/h2>\n<p>Tomlin explained that there were two \u201cvery specific reasons\u201d why the Steelers are excited about playing in Ireland this fall. The first was the opportunity to represent American football and grow the game in Europe.<\/p>\n<p>The second was Steelers\u2019 Pro Football Hall of Fame executive Dan Rooney.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI smile when I think about the late great Ambassador [Dan] Rooney and how fired up he would be about this game,\u201d\u00a0Tomlin added. \u201cI remember when he was Ambassador to Ireland he used to have a Fourth of July flag football game each year, and so I think about him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I also just simply think about the honor and privilege to play our game globally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This will be Pittsburgh\u2019s first international game in 12 years, which\u00a0was the longest current drought\u00a0for any NFL team participating in the league\u2019s international series.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, in Pittsburgh\u2019s last international game, the Steelers faced the Vikings. That matchup also happened in Week 4 at Wembley Stadium in London, England.<\/p>\n<p>The Vikings defeated\u00a0the Steelers 34-27, as Pittsburgh dropped to 0-4 to begin the 2013 season.<\/p>\n<p>Steelers Depot\u2019s Alex Kozora wrote\u00a0Tuesday former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and other ex-Pittsburgh players have said in more recent years that many Steelers experienced jet lag from the trip, which could have impacted their performance. With that in mind, it will be interested to see how Tomlin approaches the travel arrangements to Dublin.<\/p>\n<p>There were rumors this offseason\u00a0the Steelers would face the\u00a0Green Bay Packers\u00a0in Dublin during Week 4. Instead, the Steelers will host the Packers in Pittsburgh in what could be\u00a0Aaron Rodgers\u2019 first matchup against the team that drafted him.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Steelers, Vikings Making History in NFL\u2019s International Series<\/h2>\n<p>The Steelers and Vikings going to Europe this fall will be historic for a couple different reasons.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers-Vikings matchup in Dublin will be the NFL\u2019s first regular season game in Ireland. It will also be only the second league game ever in the country. The Steelers\u00a0faced\u00a0the\u00a0Chicago Bears in the 1997 NFL preseason.<\/p>\n<p>This fall, the Vikings will become the NFL\u2019s first team to play back-to-back games in different foreign countries. During Week 5, the Vikings will face the\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0in London.<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota has a lot more recent experience playing in Europe than the Steelers. The Vikings\u00a0defeated\u00a0the\u00a0New York Jets\u00a023-17 in London last season.<\/p>\n<p>The Vikings are\u00a04-0 in the NFL international series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed playing in Ireland during the 2025 NFL regular season. The NFL announced Tuesday the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0will face the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0in Dublin,&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Mike Tomlin Speaks out on Steelers Playing in Ireland After Opponent Reveal.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Mike Tomlin Speaks out on Steelers Playing in Ireland After Opponent Reveal.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed playing in Ireland during the 2025 NFL regular season. The NFL announced Tuesday the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0will face the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0in Dublin,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-14T02:30:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-11.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"582\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Mike Tomlin Speaks out on Steelers Playing in Ireland After Opponent Reveal.. - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-11.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-14T02:30:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-14T02:30:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-11.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-11.jpg\",\"width\":582,\"height\":425},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Mike Tomlin Speaks out on Steelers Playing in Ireland After Opponent Reveal..\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Mike Tomlin Speaks out on Steelers Playing in Ireland After Opponent Reveal.. - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Mike Tomlin Speaks out on Steelers Playing in Ireland After Opponent Reveal.. - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"Getty Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed playing in Ireland during the 2025 NFL regular season. The NFL announced Tuesday the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0will face the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0in Dublin,...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-05-14T02:30:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":582,"height":425,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-11.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022","name":"BREAKING: Mike Tomlin Speaks out on Steelers Playing in Ireland After Opponent Reveal.. - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-11.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-14T02:30:36+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-14T02:30:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-11.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-11.jpg","width":582,"height":425},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48022#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Mike Tomlin Speaks out on Steelers Playing in Ireland After Opponent Reveal.."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48022"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48024,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48022\/revisions\/48024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}