Newly-minted Super Bowl XLVII Champ, Baltimore Ravens guard tackle, Ramon Harewood, will be heading back to his native land of Barbados soon – to give back.
The St. Michael-born national, whose only contact with American football was via television some nine years ago, will be flying to Barbados this Spring for a football training camp for kids.
Accompanying him on the trip will be five other famed teammates including the just retired, Ray Rice. The event is being sponsored by The Barbados Tourism Authority in conjunction with the Sports Development Institute, a division of G3 Sports Marketing, LLC.
The SDI says it “strives to provide youth and teens with exciting opportunities for growth and development physically, socially, mentally and emotionally while improving their leadership and communication skills.”
“We are thrilled to congratulate both Ramon Harewood & the Baltimore Ravens on their terrific performance at Super Bowl XLVII. We also want to acknowledge the successes of Bailey, Farmer, Seale and Joseph in past championships,” said Cheryl Carter, senior business development manager of the Canadian arm of the Barbados Tourism Authority. “We are extremely excited to partner with Ramon and his teammates this Spring with the launch of their on-island football training camp. Who better to deliver encouragement and athlete training to the children of Barbados than the Super Bowl XLVII champions?”
Harewood joins Robert Bailey who is the only other Bajan to collect the prized Super Bowl Championship ring. Bailey, who played eleven seasons between 1991 and 2001 for six teams including the Dallas Cowboys, has earned two Super Bowl rings throughout his career.
Harewood who just turned 26 on Feb. 3rd, the Super Bowl on Sunday, transferred from the University of the West Indies to Morehouse on a on full academic scholarship, with hopes of becoming an engineer.
He was then a frequent runner, volleyball, cricket and rugby player with his only exposure to American football being via watching the games on television.
But at Morehouse, all that changed. Harewood’s football potential could not be ignored by Michael Grant, assistant coach of the Morehouse College football team and he quickly learned the game by watching from the sidelines.
He played just two games on defense in the 2006 season, moved to offense in 2007 and less than three years later he achieved All-American honors which ultimately led to his 2010 NFL draft pick and athletic sponsorship with Nike.
