The Cowboys won’t be traveling overseas to play a game on foreign soil in 2023, but Michael Gallup will be getting his passport stamped on official league business just the same.
The sixth-year wide receiver is one of eight current NFL players chosen by the NFLPA for its Player Passport Tour, an initiative meant to deepen the league’s growing connection with fans and businesses in both the United Kingdom and Germany. The players union made the announcement on Tuesday.
Gallup will travel to both London and Frankfurt next week, June 19-25, as part of a group that includes Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Titans safety Kevin Byard, Bills wide receiver Gabe Davis, Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean, plus others.
Along with meet-and-greet sessions, autograph signings, and flag football clinics, the players will also take part in business panel discussions intended to help grow their personal brands, immerse themselves in local culture and history, and even connect with Premier League athletes.
“The growth of American football in Europe has created unprecedented business opportunities for NFL players,” said NFL Players Inc. president Steve Scebelo in announcing the program. “Their personalities hold tremendous marketing and licensing power, fostering genuine connections between global brands and fans.”
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Five of the eight players attending this inaugural Player Passport Tour will be back in Europe during the 2023 regular season when their teams play as part of the NFL International Series.
In 2022, the league’s three London games attracted a total of 209,000 attendees, and the first-ever NFL game staged in Munich sold 70,000 tickets, a testament to the sport’s immense popularity there.
The Cowboys have not played overseas since 2014, when they beat Jacksonville by a 31-17 score at London’s Wembley Stadium. Only the Pittsburgh Steelers have gone longer without an appearance in the International Series.
Gallup himself is looking to have a bounceback season in 2023. The former third-round draft pick admitted to not feeling like himself during the 2022 campaign as he rehabbed from an ACL tear suffered in January. This offseason, Gallup says he finally feels “springy again” and is eager to get onto the field as part of a wide receiver corps in Dallas that includes CeeDee Lamb and the newly-acquired Brandin Cooks.
But first, a quick European vacation.
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