Updated Feb. 10, 2026, 6:47 p.m. ET
This concept aims to provide a new pathway for international athletes to enter the league.
This story was updated to correct a misspelling.
The NFL is always looking to expand its brand, and former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons had a unique idea that revolves around Notre Dame.
The current Green Bay Packers star told Front Office Sports that he’d like to see “an international team, I know that it’d be uneven in divisions, but I look at it like, make it like the Notre Dame of the NFL.” What Parsons was suggesting was a team that would take stars from across the globe and have them play an open schedule, giving a much more international feel to the game.
At the moment, the route to the professionals is through college. With that game so focused in the United States, Parson believes there’s room for other great athletes to make the NFL more interesting. It’s a unique take on expansion, one that I don’t think would ever happen unless the game is grown better on a global stage.
Collegiate programs such as Notre Dame are a pipeline to the NFL, and without top high school competition, it would be difficult to field a team that could compete at the highest level.
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