Here's how two Michigan football players earned their chance to meet the Pope

Published Apr. 22, 2017 5:10 p.m. ET

Aaron Torres

When Michigan announced back in January that they would take their team to Italy for a week it was met with the usual "this is just Jim Harbaugh being crazy" reaction that so often surrounds anything surrounding the Wolverines' football coach.

Harbaugh promised there would "educational" and "cultural" opportunities for his players. And now that the team departed for Europe on Saturday, it appears the head coach held true to his word.

https://twitter.com/UMichFootball/status/855771168808120320

In addition to taking in the sights of the Eternal City and practices planned at soccer club AS Roma's facility, there is also a team visit to Vatican City and St. Peter's Square for Pope Francis' weekly address. Though two of Michigan's players — junior defensive lineman Salim Makki and sophomore offensive tackle Grant Newsome — have earned the opportunity to join Harbaugh and his wife, Sarah, for an opportunity to meet Pope Francis himself.

According to the Associated Press, those two players were selected after Harbaugh asked players to submit essays on what meeting the Pope would mean to them.

In their essays, Makki, who describes himself a devout Muslim, called the Pope "one of my heroes. ... In a time where Muslims have been scrutinized and wrongly identified with violence, Pope Francis has defended Islam and stated that not all Muslims are violent." Newsome discussed how faith got him through rehab following a season-ending injury last season.

"It's another example of coach doing something outside the box," cornerback Keith Washington said to the Associated Press. "It's also him just trying to give us an opportunity to do something that we wouldn't have a chance to do without Michigan football."