Editor's Note: DenverBroncos.com's Stuart Zaas is in New Orleans working for the NFL during Super Bowl week. He will check in from time to time with updates leading up to the game on Sunday.
NEW ORLEANS –As many players do, linebacker Von Miller and Champ Bailey plan to get away from football for a bit in the offseason and do some traveling.
However, not many of their NFL peers will be making a trip like the one the two Broncos Pro Bowlers have scheduled.
The pair will participate in a USO tour in the Middle East during the offseason to visit military members stationed abroad.
"Our troops and our guys over there do so much for us," Miller said. "I'm looking forward to it,"
Bailey and Miller will be joined by other NFL players for the week-long tour.
This will mark the second-straight season that Bailey has spent time with the military. Last July, he flew with the Air Force’s Thunderbirds.
"They're impressive," Bailey said of his experience. "I know our job is difficult but it's nothing like that. It was a great experience. It was the best thing I've ever done."
During the NFL's Salute to Service campaign, each player selected a branch of the military to represent with a helmet decal. Miller chose to display the Marines' logo on the outside of his helmet, but adhered the other four branches on the inside.
"We were only allowed to put one branch's decal on the outside of our helmet," Miller wrote in his blog. "But each branch is important for us, so I put the Marines sticker on the outside and the other four inside my helmet."
For Miller, the opportunity to give back to the troops is one that he was excited to join.
"To go over there and be with those guys and see how they live on a daily basis," Miller said. "It's the least I can do."
"It means a lot to me to support our troops. A lot of guys put their lives on the line and go out and fight for us. Some football players look at playing football like a battle, but if we lose, we just go home. If they lose, they lose their lives."
