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Resisting Pressure, NFL Players  Greet Fans on Trip to Israel

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After a storm of controversy, five US football players tour Israel’s cities and holy sites

“I really liked that I got to see the Western Wall,” Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Dan Williams tells i24NEWS from the middle of a throng of fans scrambling for autographs and yelling “we love you Dan!”

“Are the Raiders going to win the Super Bowl next year?” asks a teen wearing a kippa (skull cap) while handing Williams a football to sign. “Of course!” Williams smiles back.

Williams was one of five National Football League (NFL) players to greet fans in Jerusalem Saturday night as part of a special half-time event during a quarter-final match of the Israeli Flag Football League featuring the Har Nof Hillbillies and the Tzionim.

He was joined by Tennessee Titans Tight End Delanie Walker, Arizona Cardinals Defensive End Calais Campbell, Cameron Jordan- Defensive End for the New Orleans Saints, and Philadelphia Eagles Linebacker Mychal Kendricks.

The roar from the crowd of a few hundred people packed into the small Kraft Stadium was deafening, and the players almost showed more enthusiasm than the fans.

American Football in Israel hosted Saturday night’s event, and now boasts a membership of more than 2,000 players and five tackle and flag football leagues.

“The people who are here tonight are all American football fans – many of them play the game and many of them come out to watch their friends play,” Steve Leibowitz, founder and current president of American Football in Israel told i24NEWS. “For all of them the top of the game is the NFL, and for a select few who play the greatest game – as far as we are concerned – to come out and join us here in Israel is always an honor.”

The week-long visit by the players was organized in a joint effort between the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Relations and the Ministry of Tourism, but did not come without controversy.

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, who was scheduled to be part of the original delegation of 11 NFL players to visit Israel as part of a goodwill tour sponsored by the Israeli government, announced a few days prior that he had decided to cancel his participation in the trip over concerns that he would be used for an influence campaign.

Bennett sent out a five-word tweet saying “I’m not going to Israel.”

He followed by posting a lengthy letter to “the world” in which he explained that he “was excited to see this remarkable and historic part of the world with my own eyes,” but was not aware that the trip’s “itinerary was being constructed by the Israeli government for the purposes of making me, in the words of a government official, an ‘influencer and opinion-former’ who would then be ‘an ambassador of good will.’” 

By: Jessi Satin
(i24 News)

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