Steelers RB DeAngelo Williams headed to Egypt to promote American Football

American Football, or more specifically the NFL, is the most popular sport in North America. The NFL dominates MLB, NHL and the NBA in terms of ratings and fan base, but globally the NFL and America's version of football takes a back seat well behind soccer.

With the brand attempting to grow overseas, the league has held multiple games in England, and is toying with the idea of games in Mexico and Germany. One area of the world where American Football is looking to grow interest is in Egypt.

Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams, and 9 other current or former NFL players, is headed to Egypt this week to help promote American Football as a part of the American Football Without Barriers (AFWB) program.

"We are coming to help polish the great athletes in Egypt with our knowledge of football, in the hopes of bettering the program," Williams told Betsy Hiel of the Tribune-Review.

So, what is the overall purpose for this trip, as well as other trips to parts of the country to promote the game? To try and give Egyptian athletes exposure of American colleges.

"We're trying to break the trend of colleges not recruiting for football internationally. They do for basketball and baseball," Gary Barnidge, a co-founder of the AFWB, wrote in a Browns press statement. "We're trying to ... give kids the opportunity we had in the States to get a scholarship in the sport they like to play."

AFWB has held camps like the one Williams is participating in Brazil, China and Turkey -- all in the hopes of expanding the game of American Football, and the fan base, to global standards. It should come as a shock to no one that a player from arguably the most recognizable NFL franchise, the Steelers, was selected to help in this endeavor.