Flag football is set to make a historic debut at the LA28 Olympic Games, and NFL stars are equally excited to get a shot at winning a coveted Olympic gold. While the NFL and NFL Players Association are both on board with the idea of players going to the Olympics, a few details need to be ironed out. 

Star quarterbacks Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals and Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills are amongst 200 players who have shown interest in playing flag football at the Olympics. 

While the NFL itself has been promoting the flag(no contact) version of football and players are keen, even owners are on board with their players going to the Olympics, but not until they are assured that certain conditions will be met. 

Mark Maske of the Front Office Sports reported that talks are underway, but the policy for players to go to the Olympics is yet to be finalized.

The Priorities: Field Surface, Medical Care and Schedule

Last year the NFL team owners met and unanimously approved a resolution in support of the players’ Olympic dreams. The resolution said that an agreement must be reached on standards for field surfaces and medical care for players. Another point was that the schedule should not unreasonably conflict with the players’ league and team commitments. 

The owners’ resolution also seeks an injury protocol for players through insurance policies and a salary-cap credit for NFL teams should their players return injured from the Olympics. 

A one-player-per-team cap for a single country, along with permission for players on a team’s international program to represent their country, had also been proposed as part of the owners’ resolution. 

Flag football is strictly no-contact, with players having to pull out one of two flags from their opponent to bring them down, but tackles, blocking, and screening are all strictly not allowed. So injury from contact is unlikely, but the games will be played at BMO Stadium, home to LAFC in the MLS and Angel City FC in the NWSL. 

The owners’ resolution to see safer turf is something the NFL and other bodies involved in making the decision will have to look into because BMO Stadium has natural Bermuda grass while most NFL stadiums have synthetic turf.

Flag football is scheduled to be played between July 15- 22, meaning there should ideally be no conflict in the scheduling given it’s usually offseason training time for most teams. 

The Decision Is Yet to Be Finalized

There is no clear timeline yet for when a final decision can be taken of the players’ policy to represent their country in a shot to win Olympic gold, but the aforementioned points will need to be agreed on mutually before the green light is given. 

Another point of discussion will be the fact that NFL stars will probably need to train for flag football in the build-up to the Olympics. While the USA, as the home nation, already makes the cut, other countries will have to secure qualification with only six teams competing in both men’s and women’s tournaments. 

“They’re very serious about the Olympic opportunity,” said Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president of club business, international and league events, during the league meeting in Atlanta last Wednesday. 

It’s not just the NFL side of things where the excitement can be felt. Even on the flag football side of the NFL, the effect can be felt.

“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,” said Brian Flunn, NFL’s senior vice president of Global Flag Football, according to Reuters. 

Each team will consist of 10 players for the 5v5 affair that will be played over 20-minute halves with a running clock. A total of 60 men will represent their country at the Olympics in flag football; Joe Burrow and other NFL stars won’t just be up against each other, but also veteran flag footballers from their home nations.