Flag football is coming to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California, and the top stars in American football are already making it clear that they want to participate.
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According to Reuters, more than 200 players have expressed an interest in ditching their football pads for the belt holding two flags. This followed the NFL passing a resolution in 2025 that allowed its players to compete in the 2028 Olympic Games.
"We have begun canvassing NFL players' interest in representing their countries in the Olympics and to date more than 200 players representing 25-plus countries have said they are interested in representing their country for the Olympic Games," Brian Flinn, the league's Senior Vice President of Global Flag Football, said to media members during a conference call.
The Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California, will feature six teams in the men's division and six teams in the women's division. The United States and Italy have already qualified on the men's side.
Several active and retired NFL players have already taken part in some flag football action. They competed in Tom Brady's Fanatics Flag Football Classic in March. This event, which moved to the United States due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East, had three teams competing in a round robin tournament.
The Founders Team, featuring Brady, also had Jalen Hurts, Ashton Jeanty, Alvin Kamara, Rob Gronkowski, Antoine Winfield Jr., DeVonta Smith, Von Miller, Stefon Diggs, Damar Hamlin, Patrick Peterson, and Terence Crawford.
Team Wildcats featured Jayden Daniels, Joe Burrow, Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham Jr., Kyle Juszczyk, DeAndre Hopkins, Davante Adams, Derwin James Jr., Jalen Ramsey, Luke Kuechly, Logan Paul, and IShowSpeed.
Team USA featured the men who most recently won the flag football world championships in Dusseldorf, Germany. This team locked up a spot in the 2028 Olympic Games.
Team USA included such players as Darrell Doucette III, Velton Brown Jr., Isaiah Calhoun, Jamie Kennedy, Nico Casares, Aamir Brown, Mike Daniels, Laval Davis, Tyler Davis, Shawn Theard Jr., and Laderrick Smith.
Active players are not the only ones who have expressed an interest. Retired quarterback Robert Griffin III said back in April that he would like to compete in the Olympic Games. Though he noted that he doesn't want a free ride.
"I want to go for gold with Team USA, and I'm just going through every single step to make that happen and respecting these guys and respecting the flag football community along the way," Griffin explained.
