The NFL's 2025 MVP award went to Matthew Stafford. Its reigning flag football player of the year is a 17-year-old two-way star from Staten Island.
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Ava Rotondi was named the female NFL FLAG Player of the Year at the 15th annual NFL Honors ceremony in February 2026. She shared the spotlight with male winner Brysen Wright and some of the biggest names in professional football shortly before Super Bowl LX.
For Rotondi, the award represented the latest achievement in a flag football career that began in elementary school.
Who Is Ava Rotondi?
Rotondi starred at wide receiver and safety for St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School and competed nationally with THT, a flag football program based in Staten Island, New York.
She made an impact nearly everywhere on the field during her junior season at St. Joseph by-the-Sea.
Rotondi caught 39 passes for 555 yards and 14 touchdowns on offense. At defensive back, she intercepted five passes and returned two of them for touchdowns. She also scored on two punt returns.
Her production earned her first-team All-Catholic High School Athletic Association honors and second-team all-state recognition as a defensive back.
Rotondi's versatility carried over to the club level. NFL FLAG described her as a fearless leader and trusted team captain whose preparation and competitive drive helped elevate her teammates.
She has also produced the type of highlights that make her difficult to overlook. Rotondi can create separation as a receiver, track deep passes and turn interceptions into scoring opportunities from the other side of the ball.
Ava Rotondi/Instagram
Ava Rotondi Received Her Award at NFL Honors
The NFL FLAG Player of the Year award recognizes more than statistics and tournament victories. Candidates are also judged by how they represent the NFL's core values of respect, integrity, responsibility to team and resiliency.
Rotondi emerged from a group of accomplished finalists to receive the award at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Her selection placed her alongside previous female winners Allison Gandlin and Josie Clayton in the NFL FLAG record book.
The timing could hardly be better for a young player to emerge.
Girls' flag football continues to expand at the high school and college levels, while the sport will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. That growth has created opportunities that were unavailable to many athletes only a few years ago.
Rotondi has already spent nearly a decade playing the sport. By the time flag football reaches the Olympic stage, she will still be at the beginning of her athletic career.
There is no guarantee that Rotondi will eventually wear a Team USA uniform or become an Olympian. The growing talent pool will make those roster spots extremely competitive.
She has already established herself as one of the country's best young flag football players, however. Her Player of the Year award made that official.
If Ava Rotondi's next chapter looks anything like the one that earned her a trip to NFL Honors, football fans will be hearing her name again.
