Two Browns are among nine NFL players who will travel to Cairo, Egypt, next week as part of the fourth-annual American Football Without Barriers camp, the organization announced Tuesday.
Browns star tight end Gary Barnidge and defensive end Johnson Bademosi will join the likes of former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch and Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams overseas March 2-5 where they'll teach, serve, and lead more than 450 Egyptian and international American football players and fans on and off the field.
Barnidge started AFWB — which aims to spread the sport across the world through camps and outreach event to underprivileged communities — four years ago with two college friends. "We go internationally to different places and we do a football camp for kids and we also visit orphanages, talk to kids, give out clothes," he told ClevelandBrowns.com in October.
"We want to spread the sport internationally on the ground level and help it grow playing-wise, not just by watching … It's been a lot of fun. We're trying to break the trend of colleges not recruiting for football internationally. They do for basketball and baseball. We're trying to break that trend and give kids the opportunity we had here in the states to get a scholarship in the sport they like to play."
Now in its fourth year, the AFWB camp — sponsored by Egypt Air and Lenovo — was held in Turkey last year, Brazil in 2014 and China in 2013.
"I just enjoy giving back. I try to do as much as I can giving back," Barnidge said, adding that he wants the organization to things worldwide. "Let's not be one and done or one place; let's go all over. I wanted to do something different, so we came up with that idea of doing it everywhere and somewhere different every year."
In addition to teaching football-specific skills through coaching clinics, the players will visit the Children's Cancer Hospital 57357 and LeBalanda, which serves underprivileged communities and reforms their infrastructure via education, health serves, food, and shelter.
Full list of players:
Breno Giacomini: New York Jets, Offensive Lineman
DeAngelo Williams: Pittsburgh Steelers, Running Back
Erik Lorig: New Orleans Saints / Free Agent, Fullback
Gary Barnidge: Cleveland Browns, Tight End
Johnson Bademosi: Cleveland Browns, Defensive End/Special Teams
Colby Cameron, Fujitsu Frontiers, Quarterback
Jordan Cameron: Miami Dolphins, Tight End
Marshawn Lynch: Seattle Seahawks, Running Back
Oday Aboushi: Houston Texans, Offensive Lineman
