Members of many of China's top sports media outlets met on Friday at Heritage Hall with Pat Haden, USC's Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics Chair, as well as redshirt freshman linebacker Dion Bailey and Trojan Senior Associate Athletic Director Mark Jackson as part an outreach by NFL China.
Former Trojan starting cornerback John Walker (2002-05), who is serving as a consultant for NFL China, helped coordinate the visit, which included a question and answer session, a tour of USC's football facilities and the Coliseum and a viewing of USC's 2011 highlight video.
The NFL China is one of a handful of efforts the NFL is making internationally to not only broaden the fan base of American football but to encourage youth around the world to participate in the sport.
Among the topics the Chinese media contingent asked about were the differences between collegiate and professional football, the economics involved in fielding competitive athletic teams, Bailey's aspirations as a football player, Haden's past as a player and his transition to administration and USC's strong history of Olympic success.
Bailey, the 2011 Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American, was even asked by one smiling member of the group his thoughts on Tim Tebow. Bailey, ironically, had met Tebow on a recruiting trip to Florida a few years ago and spoke highly of the current Denver Bronco quarterback.
The Chinese media group is also scheduled to see the CIF championship game on Saturday night, as well as the Chargers' game on Sunday.
Pat Haden and Dion Bailey welcomed Chinese media members to USC on Friday.
