Flag football is making its Olympic debut at the 2028 summer games in Los Angeles, marking the start of a potential global explosion of the sport.
The United States of America has long dominated the sport of American football, but it has never been a part of the Olympic games. At the 1904 and 1932 Summer Olympics, it was a demonstration sport and they played it to promote the game, rather than playing for competition.
The International Olympic Committee approved flag football as one of the new events back in October 2023, now NFL organizations are trying to decide if their athletes should compete.
Tackle football has remained out of the Olympics for reasons such as high injury risk, an inconvenience in the scheduling, and its lack of popularity world wide.
According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, a resolution about NFL players participating in Olympic Flag Football will be considered during next week’s league meetings.
The format of the sport is obviously much different compared to what NFL guys are used to. There’s less contact and it seems to be more of a finesse game according to Pittsburgh Steelers Head coach Mike Tomlin.
"I'm not going to assume that tackle football players are the very best option,” Tomlin said. “Seems like size is less of a factor in flag football. We might have a bunch of 140-pound guys running around out there."
There’s no blocking or tackling, so players must rely on agility to evade defenders. Flag football is played 5-on-5 on a 70x25 yard field with 10 yard end zones. Each team gets four attempts to reach midfield, then another four tries to score a touchdown.
It makes sense as to why many NFL players would be interested in going for gold, however it is a completely different sport. Since there are less players on the field, there’s a lot more space to work with.
Surely some of the elite skill position players across the league would make a significant impact under those circumstances, but it’s hard to predict. The NFL may be reluctant to allow its players to compete due to the risk of injuries, which could jeopardize their availability for the NFL season.
