Indianapolis Colts excited about chance to play rival New England Patriots in Germany

INDIANAPOLIS — Bernhard Raimann was a wide receiver the last time his entire family could see him play in person.

The Colts left tackle was born and raised in Austria. Most of his family still lives there, and it’s understandably been difficult for most of the family to make the flight across the ocean for a game or two.

Only his father has seen him play in the NFL, and that was only once; Raimann played just four snaps against Washington last season with his father in the stands at Lucas Oil Stadium.

But the Raimanns will not have to wait much longer. The Colts are headed to Frankfurt, Germany on Nov. 12 to take on the New England Patriots, the first time Indianapolis has played an international game since the Colts dropped a 30-27 decision to Jacksonville in 2016.

The Colts have also played three preseason games outside of the country, playing in Mexico City in 2000, Tokyo in 2005 and Toronto in 2010.

The news was announced Wednesday morning that Indianapolis was headed across the ocean.

Raimann immediately started celebrating with his family.

“I actually texted them this morning before coming into the facility,” Raimann said. “They were super excited.”

Frankfurt is roughly eight hours from where Raimann’s family lives. And they’re already making plans on how they’ll get there.

“It probably depends on how big of a group they’re getting together,” Raimann said. “It might be cheaper to drive with like five people per car, I don’t know. … I don’t know if my grandma still likes flying, or if she likes to drive.”

Raimann, the team’s projected starting left tackle, has the most likely path to playing in front of his family in Germany, but he’s not the only Colt who will be close to home.

Free safety Marcel Dabo, the team’s German member of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program, is from Stuttgart, roughly 200 miles from Frankfurt, and the Colts have a roster exemption to keep Dabo on the practice squad if he doesn’t win a spot on the 53-man roster, making it possible for the team to promote Dabo to the active roster for a game.

The rest of the Colts will be a lot further from home.

“I’m real excited,” Indianapolis free safety Rodney Thomas II said. “I’ve never been out of the country.”

From a coaching standpoint, the Indianapolis staff has a lot of decisions to make, most notably when to fly over to Germany, navigating the problem of jet lag. The two teams that played the NFL’s first game in Germany last season, Tampa Bay and Seattle, both flew overseas halfway through the week.

The good news is first-time Colts head coach Shane Steichen has an assistant on his staff with plenty of experience coaching on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Because of his head coaching stint in Jacksonville, Indianapolis defensive coordinator Gus Bradley has coached in London four times, the last one coming in that 30-27 win over the Colts.

Bradley can offer some words of wisdom to the rest of the Colts staff.

Namely that the time crunch isn’t as bad as it seems on the outside.

“I don’t know, exactly, our time schedule. Are we leaving Sunday after the game, are we leaving Thursday?” Bradley said. “But I think that you get used to it and you plan. You can get your preparation in. It’s not an issue that way. You’ve got to be more efficient at times in some areas, but it’s not like a Thursday night game. It’s not how efficient you have to be on a week like that.”

And while it seems like a headache, Bradley knows the payoff is well worth it.

“When you get there on Sunday, it’s an unbelievable environment,” Bradley said. “It’s just a different feel to it all, and it’s very energizing, I would say, the emotion, the enthusiasm. … It’s really a cool experience for the players and coaches.”

Raimann can vouch for that part of Europe’s interest in the NFL.

“My family was signing up for the Germany game last year even though I wasn’t playing there,” Raimann said. “They just love football.”

The last time Raimann’s family saw him play, the second-year left tackle believes, they saw him catch a touchdown pass for the Vienna Vikings in the Austrian national championship. They’ve watched him play plenty of football online, to be sure, but this will be the first time for most of the family to see Raimann play in seven years.

Steichen might need to draw up a tackle-eligible play in November to get him the ball again.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts excited about chance to play play rival Patriots in Germany