OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Before Ravens head coach John Harbaugh immerses himself in Baltimore's training camp, and the rigorous NFL season, he's going to take a few days out to gain some perspective.Harbaugh will join Tom Coughlin, Bill Cowher, Jeff Fisher and Jon Gruden on the inaugural NFL-USO Coaches Tour. The event will take the five current and former coaches to the Persian Gulf, where they will spend nearly a week visiting with U.S. troops.
"The Persian Gulf trip is going to be a great experience," Harbaugh said with an excited smile on his face after Baltimore's Tuesday OTA. The trip runs June 30-July 5, "so it will be over the Fourth of July, and I think that's going to be pretty amazing," he added.
The NFL has been sending players overseas to mingle with the United States' military since 1966 -- just this March, Jared Allen, Danny Clark, Larry Fitzgerald and Will Witherspoon ventured to Iraq and Kuwait.
This is the first league-organized excursion for a group of coaches, though.
"These guys are what America is all about," Harbaugh said. "You know, we talk about team and sports, we think team is important -- and it is important -- but we're just a small little slice of what that means compared to the military.
"I think everybody in this country is proud of everything that's being done over there by our young people."
The trip's schedule is jam-packed, according to Harbaugh, with activities running "from dawn to midnight," a strategy designed to allow the coaches to interact with as many troops as possible. The quintet of coaches will do their best to raise morale, but Harbaugh was realistic about how much impact the NFL representatives can have.
"I think I'm going to learn more and enjoy it more probably than [the troops] are, for sure," Harbaugh said. "What am I going to say to them? I'm looking forward to what they have to say, and it's going to be a neat trip."
