Pittsburgh Steelers greats Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor and Ryan Clark are in the midst of an NFL outreach program in China and are finding time to enjoy some of the culture of the country, including the Great Wall of China, while also spreading the word about American football to the citizens of China.
The Super Bowl winning trio of defensive backs is spreading goodwill and discovering that the Chinese people areaware of American football and that they welcome the game.
AFI’s Allan Price has been following their tour as a videographter and judging from the photos the players are getting a chance to experience some of the sights of China.
Allan Price behind the lens with Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark
The tour kicked of in Beijing and then they headed out to visit the Great Wall of China (about two hours outside of Beijing), before the players coached at an NFL Play 60 event at Bayi Middle School. This was followed by a fan meet and greet at the Kerry Hotel Beijing.
The group then flew down to Shanghai where they spent Thursday in a ‘football meets football’ event, as the players met Wang Dalei, the goalkeeper for the Chinese national team. They met in Wang’s shop in town, ‘Honor 23’ and discussed the common challenges of being defenders, as well as football fans (Wang is a huge Steelers fan). Then they went outside to ‘learn’ each other’s games – the NFL players tackled Wang, and Wang taught them some of the finer points of goalkeeping.
Then the players headed to the Kerry Hotel, Pudong for another fan event, but also an event to celebrate the teams that are playing in this Sunday’ NFL University Bowl (China’s flag football national finals). The players answered fan questions and posed for photos.
AFI’s Allan Price 2nd from left) with Ryan Clark, Ike Taylor and Troy Polamalu plus the NFL’s social media crew
Look for a full report from Allan Price next week.
