NFL players in Olympic flag football? League could vote as soon as next week

NFL owners will discuss a proposal at the spring league meeting in Minneapolis next week that would allow players to try out for flag football teams at the 2028 Olympic Games. If the proposal proceeds to a vote, then 24 of 32 votes will be required for it to pass.

The proposal would only allow one player on each NFL roster to try out for a given country’s Olympic team. Multiple players on the same NFL team could all play at the Olympics if they were to compete for different countries. Additionally, each team’s player added via the International Player Pathway program would be eligible to try out.

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Any flag football team that includes an NFL player would also be required to “implement certain minimum standards for medical staff and field surfaces.” The team would also need to alter its schedule for practices, games and events to ensure that there’s no conflict with players’ commitments to their NFL teams.

At last month’s annual league meeting, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expressed optimism that a resolution would soon come when asked about NFL players potentially participating in flag football at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

“I’ve heard directly from a lot of players who want to participate and represent their country, whether it’s the United States or the country that they came from, to have them participate in that,” Goodell said. “And I think that’s something that we’ll continue the discussions with, not just the union, but also the clubs. I think both of those are things that we will probably resolve sometime in the next 60 days.”

The NFL has greatly increased its investment in flag football in recent years. Each club has a local flag football program through the league-run program NFL FLAG, which promotes the sport nationwide and had a commercial air during the Super Bowl in February.

Flag football is a sanctioned varsity high school sport in 15 states. It has also become a collegiate sport at the NAIA, NJCAA and the NCAA Division I, II and III levels. The NFL has even discussed creating professional flag football leagues for men and women. The league is hopeful that could lead to the growth of football both domestically and internationally.

“We are very excited about the potential of that, not just for young women and a professional league, but also for young men and to give them the ability to play this game,” Goodell said. “It works for us internationally, but it gives people a chance to understand this game, and particularly the young women, the feedback I get from them is how helpful it is to them in building their self-confidence, and to be able to play this game is a joy for them.

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“And so for us to share that, I think, is a positive thing, whether it’s as a future Olympian or a high school player or a young youth athlete. I think those are things we’re seeking to do. It’s clear that there’s a lot of interest in the pro flag league. We have been getting bids on people who want to invest in that, either financially or invest in the operations of that, so we’re hard at work, and I expect there’ll be progress soon.”

The introduction of flag football in a five-on-five format at the 2028 Olympics will provide the sport with its largest platform yet. Clearly, the NFL wants to be involved.

Scott Hallenbeck, USA Football’s CEO and executive director, told The Athletic in a statement that USA Football has been in “regular communication” with the league about NFL players potentially being eligible to participate in the Olympics.

“If participation is approved, we stand ready to provide opportunities for NFL players to be part of Team USA and compete alongside established flag football stars and talent-transfer athletes from other sports,” Hallenbeck said. “We will field the best team possible in pursuit of our ultimate goal of earning two gold medals for the United States in flag football.”

At the spring league meeting, NFL owners will also discuss a proposal to ban the “tush push” play that the Philadelphia Eagles have become known for. Goodell said the proposal could also be expanded to consider other plays.

“We have very little data from it, but it’s beyond data,” Goodell said. “There’s also the mechanism of injury that we study, that type of thing that leads us to show the risk involved with a particular player or particular tackle. So those are things that we did discuss. I do think there’s a lot of discussion about going back to the previous rule, back to pre-2004.

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“It’s a dispute about how long that rule was in play, but the reality of it is, I think that makes a lot of sense in many ways because I think it expands it beyond just that single play. There are a lot of plays where you see someone pulling or pushing somebody that are not in the tush push formation that I think do have an increased risk of injury. And so, I think the committee will look at that and come back in May with some proposals.”

Before 2004, it was illegal for there to be any pushing or pulling anywhere on the field. Goodell noted it’s possible the league could return to that.

There will also be continued discussion about a proposal to change playoff seeding based on teams’ records rather than divisional winners. At this point, there’s no expectation for there to be a formal discussion about adding a potential 18th regular-season game.

(Photo of flag football at the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl Games: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)

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