Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is set to make his second trip to Africa this offseason to grow the game of football in the continent where his ancestry lies.
Owusu-Koramoah, who is of Ghanian descent, will join six other NFL players for the league's first "NFL Africa: The Touchdown" trip to the continent. The trip is set to last a week, and he'll participate in a talent identification camp, a fan event and a flag football clinic as the NFL continues to drive its commitment to develop more ways to serve its growing fan base across the world.
"NFL Africa is a great extension of the NFL," Owusu-Koramoah said. "To have them keep an eye on me when I first came in the league — I dealt a lot with African consciousness — and to be able to understand that these are our roots is very important."
Owusu-Koramoah, the Browns' second-year linebacker, previously visited Ghana in April and conducted his own football camps. Now, he'll return with an NFL-sponsored trip as he attempts to spread the influence of a sport that changed his life to another part of the world.
"(The first trip) was definitely special not just because of football, but more so the understanding of having the opportunity to provide other opportunities for others," he said. "To feed people, clothe people and teach people the fundamentals of mind, body and spirit is always a blessing."
Owusu-Koramoah will be a part of a crew that evaluates more than 40 players from across Africa. The camp will take place on June 21-22, and he'll join Seattle Seahawks' Uchenna Nwosu, Houston Texans' Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Indianapolis Colts' Kwity Paye, as well as NFL Legends Mathias Kiwanuka, Roman Oben and Osi Umenyiora in conducting and evaluating the practices.
Umenyiora established
The Uprise, a football program in Nigeria that has held regional camps in Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa in recent months. Players that stood out were invited to the upcoming camp, which will be held in Ghana.
"The NFL provides enough resources to be able to give back, not just to the community around but the extended community, whether it's in Africa, Europe, Australia and other different places," Owusu-Koramoah said. "It's our duty as people to use that, especially when we have this type of platform."
