Active NFL Stars Eye U.S. Men’s Flag Team Spot—Could This Shake Up the Entire Selection Process?
So, here’s the scoop: the NFL is rolling out a somewhat clever plan to get the team owners on board with the idea of sending active players to the 2028 Olympic flag football tournament. The twist? Each NFL franchise would be allowed to send just one player — yep, just one — to keep things manageable (and let’s be honest, to limit the injury risks that send front offices into full panic mode). That one-player rule alone sparks all kinds of questions and juicy debates: who’s deserving enough, who’s willing to take the Olympic torch onto the flag turf, and how on earth are those final picks gonna be made? Will it be the U.S. Olympic Committee’s call? Or maybe a rigorous qualifying gauntlet? The drama’s already building.
And just when you think it can’t get more tangled, there’s the grumble from flag football’s veterans, like Darrell “Housh” Doucette, who called the idea “disrespectful,” arguing that NFL stars — say, Patrick Mahomes — might not exactly be the best fit for a game that’s a whole different beast from the traditional 11-on-11 gridiron. If this resolution passes, it’s just the opening act of a complicated saga, filled with tough choices and plenty of finger-pointing about who truly belongs on the field when the Olympics come calling.
Then there’s the argument made last year by current U.S. flag football quarterback Darrell “Housh” Doucette that it’s “disrespectful” for NFL players to horn in on the flag turf and that Doucette would be a better pick than Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.Owners will want to minimize the occasions for players to get injured. They’ll want the team to be hand picked.If the owners pass the resolution allowing active players to play, it will be only the beginning of a process that will entail tough choices for the USOC — and heated conversations about which player from each team will be allowed to play. And whether the U.S. men’s flag football team members for the other three years and 50 weeks will be told to take a seat and allow NFL players to play a version of the sport that is very different from 11-on-11 tackle.The NFL hopes to persuade the various owners to get behind the idea of allowing active players to participate in the 2028 Olympics flag football tournament in part by limiting participation to one player from each NFL team.Then there’s the question of who will pick the Olympics flag football team, and how the decisions will be made. Will the U.S. Olympic Committee pick the players? Will there be a qualification process? A competition?
Presumably, more than one player per NFL team will want to do it. It could make for some interesting debates as to who gets to go.That will make for some interesting decisions regarding which players from each franchise will be the one to be permitted to play.
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