Commissioner Roger Goodell to Be First American Sports League Exec to Visit Iraq

The NFL announced Monday that Commissioner Roger Goodell, joined by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and New York Giants defensive end Osi Mumenyiora, will soon leave on a seven-day, three-country summer USO tour led by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen. It will be the first time that the commissioner of a sports league visits U.S. troops overseas as part of a USO tour, according to the USO. At the request of Commissioner Goodell, Brees and Umenyiora will join the tour along with other participants invited by Admiral Mullen, including two members of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. "It is a great honor to have been asked to join Admiral Mullen on this USO tour," said Commissioner Goodell. "I anticipate that it will be a very humbling and memorable experience. I am inspired by the many NFL representatives that, over the decades, have volunteered to visit our troops overseas and have talked about it being a life-changing experience. I want to do my part and emphasize that the entire NFL appreciates and supports the work that our military does to protect our country." The NFL has partnered with the USO for more than 40 years. According to the NFL the league "was the first sports organization to send players to visit troops in Vietnam when future Pro Football Hall of Famers Wille Davis, Frank Gifford, Sam Huff and Johnny Unitas went there and to other parts of the Far East in 1966. Earlier this year, three NFL players -- defensive linemen Luis Castillo of San Diego , Tommie Harris of Chicago and Mike Rucker of Carolina -- took a week-long NFL-USO tour to Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan to support the soldiers." For the two NFL players accompanying Commissioner Goodell, this will be their second time overseas this offseason on goodwill trips. Brees, the co-winner of the 2006 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award who has produced the first two 4,000-yard passing seasons in Saints history, visited Okinawa on a USO tour this spring. While on those Pacific beaches, Brees talked by phone to his grandfather, who had landed as a U.S. Marine on those same beaches more than 60 years ago and participated in some of the heaviest fighting in World War II. Umenyiora, who led the Giants in sacks (13.0) last season while helping the club to its Super Bowl XLII title, joined four other NFL players -- Ahman Green (Houston), Isreal Idondie (Chicago), Adewale Ogunleye (Chicago) and Amobi Okoye (Houston) -- this spring on a humanitarian mission to Nigeria to help set up college scholarships at 10 universities, distribute HIV testing kits to clinics, dig water wells in villages, and outfit a youth soccer team. Source: National Football LeagueOTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK Linkin Park, MLB Properties Hook-up For 3rd Year - The Biz of Baseball Wrigley Field It Is: NHL Outdoor Classic in Chicago Jan. 1 - The Biz of Baseball Passing Gas? Rays, Hess to Give Away $5 Cards on July 18 - The Biz of Baseball All-Star Game Starters, Reserves, and Pitchers Announced - The Biz of Baseball 214.7 Million Votes Cast Online for All-Star Game - The Biz of Baseball Is the Ed Wade/ Shawn Chacon Altercation a First? - The Biz of BaseballYou Really Like Me! Rays See Highest TV Ratings Ever - The Biz of Baseball Cellphone to Throw Away at the All-Star Game - The Biz of Baseball Six GMs on the Hot Seat - The Biz of Baseball Chicago's Wrigley Field to Host Next Outdoor Classic on New Years Day - The Biz of Hockey Jaromir Jagr First Major NHL Player to Crossover to Continental Hockey League - The Biz of Hockey Free Agent Signings - July 1, 2008 - The Biz of Hockey NHL Free Agent Listing As of July 1, 2008 - The Biz of Hockey Ducks owner Henry Samueli Suspended by NHL - The Biz of Hockey NHL 2K9, First Officially Licensed Game by NHL and NHLPA for Wii, Coming this Fall - The Biz of Hockey Dion Phaneuf Selected for Cover of EA Sports "NHL 09" - The Biz of Hockey Bryan Perez Named Senior VP and General Manager of NBA Digital - The Biz of Basketball Narcissist Alert: Former NBAer Doug Christie and Wife Jackie Announce They'll Get Married for 13th Time - The Biz of Basketball A Drop in the Bucket: Why the Settlement between the Sonics and Seattle will See Bennett Making $$$ - The Biz of Basketball NBA Opening Stores in China Next Month. Using Olympics to Boost Interest - The Biz of Basketball TNT Lands Full Slate of Sponsors For "Wide Open Coverage" Telecasts - Maury Brown's Biz of Sports Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.