Current:Home > Contact-usWill NFL players participate in first Olympics flag football event in 2028?-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Will NFL players participate in first Olympics flag football event in 2028?
View Date:2024-12-23 15:31:44
The 2028 Summer Olympics are an entire Olympic cycle away. But the inclusion of flag football at the Los Angeles Games prompts the question: Will NFL players participate on the world stage?
The early answer, barring unforeseen circumstances, is yes.
The players want in. The NFL wants players to play. And, importantly, the NFL Players Association is on board.
“The players want to do it. We’re supportive of the players wanting to do it,” union president Lloyd Howell Jr. said following his news conference on Feb. 7 in Las Vegas. “So, we’re all for it.”
There are kinks to work out, Howell added.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
“There are details around, let’s say someone is hurt as they’re getting ready for the Olympics. Is it covered by (league) protection or not? So what allowances, given that football hasn’t been in the Olympics, that would accommodate that type of thing?” Howell said.
The 2028 Summer Games are scheduled for July 14-30, 2028 – meaning the Olympics would end right around when training camps traditionally begin. While that is one of the many hurdles that need to be considered for any active NFL players' participation, Howell called the possibilities “workable issues.”
“Especially when you have both sides wanting to do something,” the union chief said. “So, details that have to be addressed, but we haven’t gotten into that yet.”
Time is on the side of those wanting to make it work. Discussions “around eligibility and process” between the NFLPA and the league, which carries the interest of owners, have already started, according to NFL executive vice president for international, club business and league events Peter O’Reilly. The Pro Bowl Games, meanwhile, has included a flag football game for the past two years.
“(There are) important things for us to work through, and we'll continue to do that," O'Reilly said
The flag football format approved by Los Angeles 2028 requires players to wear three flags. Pulling one from its socket around a player’s waist line is akin to a “tackle.” There is one first-down marker at midfield. The field is 70 yards in length and 30 yards in width; the two end zones are both 10 yards deep.
When the announcement of flag football’s presence at the Los Angeles Games came in October, NFL players largely responded with positivity.
“I definitely want to (play), but I’ve seen some of those guys play flag football and they’re a little faster than I am,” Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said in November. “I know there’s not, like, linemen blocking for you. I’ll be 31, 32 years old, so if I can still move around then, I’m going to try to get out there and throw the football around maybe in LA.
“Just don’t tell coach (Andy) Reid or (Chiefs general manager Brett) Veach or anybody.”
With spots limited for Team USA, eligibility for other countries, based on players’ familial nationalities and their own heritage, will also be explored. In October, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill told USA TODAY Sports he was interested in participating, but that he wanted to secure his Japanese citizenship to represent Japan.
There will also be a full women’s field, providing medal equity in flag football.
veryGood! (45589)
Related
- Advance Auto Parts is closing hundreds of stores in an effort to turn its business around
- Bethany Joy Lenz Details How She Escaped a Cult and Found Herself
- North Carolina board reasserts funding control over charter schools after losing other powers
- ‘Stop Cop City’ activists arrested after chaining themselves to bulldozer near Atlanta
- FBI raids New York City apartment of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, reports say
- Taylor Momsen was 'made fun of relentlessly' for starring in 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'
- Spain soccer chief Luis Rubiales accused of sexual assault by player Jenni Hermoso for unwanted kiss
- Joseph Fiordaliso, who championed clean energy as head of New Jersey utilities board, dies at 78
- Man Found Dead in Tanning Bed at Planet Fitness Gym After 3 Days
- The long road winding down at the World Cup, where semifinals await Team USA
Ranking
- What that 'Disclaimer' twist says about the misogyny in all of us
- 2 Trump co-defendants get trial date, feds eye another Hunter Biden indictment: 5 Things podcast
- Danny Masterson Sentenced to 30 Years to Life in Prison in Rape Case
- Special counsel intends to bring indictment against Hunter Biden by month's end
- The Fate of Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager's Today Fourth Hour Revealed
- 'No words': 9/11 death toll continues to rise 22 years later
- Severe flooding in Greece leaves at least 6 dead and 6 missing, villages cut off
- Deion Sanders, Colorado start fast with rebuild challenging college football establishment
Recommendation
-
Quincy Jones laid to rest at private family funeral in Los Angeles
-
From snow globes to tutoring, strikes kick Hollywood side hustles into high gear
-
2 attacks by Islamist insurgents in Mali leave 49 civilians and 15 soldiers dead, military says
-
Another inmate dies at Fulton County Jail, 10th inmate death this year
-
Skai Jackson announces pregnancy with first child: 'My heart is so full!'
-
Louisiana grand jury charges 91-year-old disgraced priest with sexual assault of teenage boy in 1975
-
Catholic-Jewish research substantiates reports that Catholic convents sheltered Jews during WWII
-
First day of school jitters: Influx of migrant children tests preparedness of NYC schools