Joe Burrow is currently pushing his Cincinnati Bengals side toward the ultimate goal – the Super Bowl, but he also has ambitions with the US National team at the 2028 Olympics. Flag football will make its debut in the upcoming Olympics, and Burrow is part of the long list of players who has expressed interest in participating at the quadrennial event.

“During a Thursday conference call with reporters, NFL Senior Vice President, Global Flag Football, Brian Flinn said that more than 200 players have expressed interest in participating,” reported Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.

Back in May 2025, NFL team owners voted in favor of allowing league players to represent their countries in flag football at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“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 on a media call.

As per the reports, six countries will participate in the flag football tournament. Flag football’s Olympic debut at LA28 will consist of two six-team competitions, one for men and another for women. Each team will carry 10 athletes, bringing the total field to 120 players across 12 teams.

However, NFL players showing interest is just part of how the league’s long-time dream will be coming true.

“When I started (at the NFL), we ​had a ⁠dream: How do we get football into the Olympics?” Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s Executive Vice President of Media Distribution, said on the call. “And so, one of the really ⁠exciting things ​to me is seeing the continued growth of ​flag, and now that we are in the Olympics in ’28.”

Burrow has been vocal about his support for flag football for a long time now. 

“I’ve always wanted to play in the Olympics,” he said during the Fanatics Flag Football Classic press conference in March. “I’ve never necessarily played an Olympic sport before, so when this got announced, I was pretty excited about it. The opportunity to win a gold medal (is) something that I’ve thought about — a moment like that — for a long time, since I was a kid. I think it would be something very special.”

Besides Burrow, ex-Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill also liked the idea of pursuing gold in the Olympics. Meanwhile, two NFL players had already caught Team USA’s attention.

Two fit NFL candidates chosen by Team USA for flag football

The Fanatics Flag Football Classic that was held earlier this year gave a glimpse of how fun the sport actually is. The Wildcats were led by Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels and Burrow, with Kyle Shanahan as their head coach. Tom Brady and Jalen Hurts held the reins of the Founders under the leadership of Sean Payton.

Team USA defeated Brady’s Founders FFC 43-16 after dismantling Burrow’s team 39-16. For the format, they have stuck to the five-on-five, round-robin tournament setup.

Before the matchup, Team USA quarterback Darrell “Housh” Doucette II, shared the names of two players whose games would translate into flag football well. 

“I think Kyler [Murray] does have a skill set that does translate over, just like we say Lamar [Jackson] has a skill set that translates over, even the receivers, right?,” said Doucette.

Given the limited preparation, it was clear NFL players and coaches were still getting to grips with the game and its rules before the 5-on-5 tournament.

Luckily, the 2028 Summer Olympics is still two years away, and several NFL players have expressed interest, but with a lot of time still left, it will be interesting to see which players continue expressing their willingness to play at the Olympics.