Harbaugh, Grant Newsome & Salim Makki will meet Pope Francis
The two players were chosen by Harbaugh to shake the Pope's hand.
Harbaugh had the team write essays on why they should get to shake the Pope's hand.
The essays are included, and they're really impressive. Especially from Salim Makki, the Wayne State transfer from Dearborn.
http://collegefootball.ap.org/article/addio-michigans-football-team-hea…
There are practices planned at the home of soccer club AS Roma, but there is plenty of sightseeing, too, along with a meeting with refugees, including some who have fled Syria. And then there is the trip to the Vatican. While the entire team can look forward to a visit to St. Peter's Square, Harbaugh, his wife, Sarah, and two players are going to get a closer look at the pope.
In his essay, Makki, a defensive tackle who described himself as a devout Muslim, wrote that he grew up learning the importance of religions coexisting.
"His Holiness Pope Francis is sincerely one of my heroes," Makki wrote. "In a time where Muslims have been scrutinized and wrongly identified with violence, Pope Francis has defended Islam and stated that not all Muslims are violent."
In addition to that, the Pope will be presented with a customized Michigan helmet.
Notice the Cross on the side, the US & Italy flags on the back, the "266" decal (266th Pope) and the Francisco signature panel below the ear hole.
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
Here comes an NCAA rule for 2018: "Football coaches may not have contact with leaders of major world religions..."
That'd be a shame, cuz I'll bet next year it's off to Tibet, and....The Dalai Lama himself. Twelfth son of the Lama...
Ohio State can keep Lebron as their celebrity mega fan. We will take the motherfucking Pope.
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:30 PM ^
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^
Someone tell the pope that magically healing Newsome's knee would be nice to put on a resume for sainthood later.
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:45 PM ^
but we really need Newsome to win an essay contest to meet this guy...
Nice thought . . . but if the Pope heals Newsome's knee, it's not magic.
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:46 PM ^
Damn... Making players write a letter on why they wanted to meet the Pope and then selecting two players on the content of that letter?
I love Coach Harbaugh! So Harbaugh!
it would have been so easy to pick a guy like Rashan for example or McCray and no one would have blinked... but to pick Newsome, a guy that won't play this year and whose career maybe over and some transfer who was deep down on the depth chart?!
Love how the matra of meritocracy carries through in everything
Good for them! looking forward to seeing the pictures and the story on that meeting!
mgoblue tv better be there! and Turnley too!
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^
And for good reason. Generally speaking they are deplorable.
tasteless jokes have been a staple in my life since i can remember. People tend to forget laughter is the best way to deal with an awkward topic. But the standards of what is publicly aceptable have changed.
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:40 PM ^
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:53 PM ^
To hell with Notre Dame.
Can we get the Pope to say this?
Giant fissures would encompass South Bend and it will then disappear, sinking into Hell.
Those idiots already think South Bend is the holy city.
You know, they rather do think this. It's very hard to reconcile their view of that university and that city with what both actually are. Indeed, if once in a while someone took their newborn to the Linebacker Lounge to be baptized with a pitcher of Molson by Rudy Ruettiger, I really wouldn't be shocked at all.
April 22nd, 2017 at 11:20 PM ^
well the city i mean, it's not like rome and the vatican have much in common either
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:42 PM ^
I cannot overstate how much of an opportunity this trip will be for some of our athletes. As someone who has been fortunate to have travelled to Europe many times for business and pleasure, what this trip will do to expand the horizons of our football players is off the charts.
There are many reasons to like Harbaugh because of his acumen as a coach, but putting this trip together and his plans for future trips makes Coach Harbaugh stand apart from everyone else out there. And a loud thank you to the anonymous donor who is making this trip possible. It will enrich the lives of many of our student athletes and will be something they will remember for the rest of their lives.
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:44 PM ^
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:45 PM ^
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:45 PM ^
Great work Coach! This tells us a lot about how this staff thinks - getting to Italy is already outside of the box, and now this....
Just fantastic - I hope we'll get a scouting report on the Pontiff's pad level....
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:52 PM ^
April 22nd, 2017 at 12:55 PM ^
I think Harbaugh is enjoying being at Michigan.
This is what it's all about.
And sorry, I should be better than this...but FUCK YOU SEC. This is exactly what you are NOT. Frauds.
...ahh, I feel better.
Tip of the cap to Harbaugh, UofM, and company for educating and making a difference. Fuck anyone who attempts to stop either of those goals.
Go Blue.
"OK, I'm all-in. I'm finally convinced Harbaugh is one of the good guys."
Guess for some people it takes a meeting with the Pope, and obviously putting your players total lives first (not just their football performance). How smart people can criticize our coach is beyond me
w/ a qualified deity
are rethinking their decision to try and block Harbaugh at every turn. Could not have worked out better, creating one of the greatest benefits any cfb team has ever had.
This might be the most remarkable part of the story:
After the trip, some of Michigan's players are free to choose their own adventure in May. Many have enrolled in overseas study programs in several countries, including Iceland and Costa Rica. Some are headed to Ireland. Others simply are returning to campus. The Wolverines are taking advantage of an opportunity non-athletes often do in in college, earning credits while learning about another culture in another country or putting on a backpack and taking trains all over Europe. Their scholarship covers their tuition, room and board on the road. "The year-round schedule that has been created, that almost every football team has, for 12 months it provides no options like this," Harbaugh said. Until now.
That is really cool - many are not only going on this one trip as a team but taking advantage of purely optional individual opportunities afterwards.
Harbaugh isn't kidding when says he wants to give these guys a full college experience. Love this man.
its great that some of the players (i think 20+) are going to continue study abroad in other countries...
For example, I think it was Keith Washington that was going to BA Argentina....without any other members of the football team.
Instead he's joining up with other regular Michigan students and being a student athlete and not a kid that lives in the rarified bubble of the program while in AA. I believe this is the same with Furbush, who was going down to costa rica to study clean water technology(!) without any of the other football players going.
I like this model... and reminds me somewhat of Stanford of how they ensure their players are students first...While Michigan isn't quite that, this is a great step towards that model (which Jim started when he was there).
Kudos to Coach Harbaugh, the AD and most importantly, the generous donor that made this possible...
If the NCAA tries to ban this, you might as well end amatuerism, because this experience as student athletes is pretty much as great as you can have...hell for a regular student, this is a phenomenal experience.
here's a good summary from a couple days ago of where different players are going
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/curious-about-study-abroad-football-team