ATLANTA -- On Sept. 14, 12 rookies and six cheerleaders from the Atlanta Falcons National Football League team took time away from the football field to do battle against Soldiers on Fort McPherson and Georgia Soldiers deployed overseas in the video game arena.
The event, made possible by Pro vs. GI Joe, a stateside partner company with the United Service Organization (USO) - a company dedicated to helping improve Soldier morale overseas - used the Internet to link footballers and Soldiers gathered at The Commons at Fort McPherson with Soldiers stationed in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
"We try to reconnect the guys overseas with their Families back home," said Joe Oneto, event and program manager for Pro vs. GI Joe.
The use of Web cameras allowed the Falcons players to see the Soldiers overseas and vice versa. Additionally, the two groups were able to interact online through video games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Guitar Hero 5.
Unlike the team's regular games, the cheerleaders didn't just stick to the sidelines, but also took turns playing against the Soldiers.
When not playing, footballers and cheerleaders signed autographs and gave words of encouragement to Soldiers and their Family members.
Chris Millman, community relations and youth program manager for the Atlanta Falcons, initiated the event and said he wanted to do something to allow players and cheerleaders to interact with local Soldiers in Atlanta.
"It's important for us to give back," he said. "I wanted to give us the opportunity to shake hands and say thank you."
Although it is often Soldiers and their Families who are cheering on the pros, Millman said the admiration goes both ways. "They players really appreciate what the Soldiers do," he said. "This is a chance to meet guys up close and personal."
Tim Buckley, wide receiver, was one of the visiting pros. Buckley, whose father, Calvin, was an Army veteran, said it is important for the team to come out and give its thanks to veterans.
"It's important to show people we don't just care about football," he said. "They (the military) need to know we care about them."
During the players' visit, Buckley said he told Soldiers he spoke with that he is rooting for them and that he "thanked them for all they do for the country." Spc. Stephanis Thompson, a pharmacy technician at the Lawrence Joel Army Health Clinic, said she appreciated the show of support. "You don't always see nice things like this," she said.
While stationed overseas in Baghdad, Thompson said musicians, such as Toby Keith and Kid Rock, came out to play and entertain Soldiers. Like those shows, she said, the visit by the Falcons was a morale booster.
"It's pretty great for morale; you get an hour or two off. It's pretty cool," she said, adding the visitors seemed really excited to be at Fort McPherson.
The excitement is what drove cheerleader Crystal - all Falcons cheerleaders use only their first name while on duty - to volunteer to be one of six cheerleaders to attend. Having met with Soldiers previously at Fort Gillem, she said she jumped at this opportunity.
"It's just a fun experience. We want them to know we support them all," Crystal said. Like Soldiers, Crystal said cheerleaders are all about service, with 90 percent of their duties comprised of doing community service-related projects. Crystal said she also wanted Soldiers to see that just like them, footballers and cheerleaders "are regular people, too."
"We're really down to earth. We want them to feel at home with us," she said. Some lucky Soldiers who received the Combat Action Badge - an award given to non-infantry branch Soldiers who are actively engaged by the enemy - got a chance to see that homely attribute in a private lunch sponsored by Outback Steakhouse.
In addition to ribs, steak, mashed potatoes and cheesecake, Soldiers got to "chew the fat" with players and cheerleaders.
Although being surrounded by guys twice her size, Spc. Clare Daniels, a map maker with the 132nd Engineer Detachment, Fort Gillem, wasn't scared to talk football, albeit not about the Falcons.
"We talked about Brett Farve," she said, adding she's really a fan of the Buffalo Bills and hopes one day they will be "like their old selves" were from 1990 to 1993, when they made four straight Super Bowl appearances. Despite the anxiety some of the players may cause in opposing teams on the football field, Daniels said she found the players very humble and caring.
"They're like you and me," she said, adding it was great the players didn't care about rank, unit or job title. Although the entire event was less than three hours long, the benefits of the visit are far greater, said Oneto, whose employer goes by the motto "Doin' a little for those who do a lot."
"It was a morale boost," he said. "Events like this help us win wars."
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