Close your eyes for a moment. Can you hear it? The roar of a Los Angeles crowd in 2028, not for the Super Bowl, but for an Olympic flag football final. Imagine Patrick Mahomes, cool as ever, launching a pinpoint pass to a streaking Tyreek Hill, both wearing Team USA colors, the dream of Olympic gold hanging in the air. For football fans everywhere, this isn’t just a fantasy; it’s a vision that feels so close you can almost touch it. But it all comes down to one crucial moment. With flag football set to make its dazzling Olympic debut at the LA Games, the NFL owners are right now, today, May 20th, 2025, wrestling with a vote: will they let their active superstars chase Olympic glory?

It’s a decision that could either unleash an American dream team onto the world stage or keep the brightest stars of the NFL watching from the sidelines. The players are practically vibrating with anticipation, while some team managers are understandably biting their nails. The stakes? They simply couldn’t be higher. Is this the NFL’s chance to truly go global, to write a whole new chapter in its legacy?

Well, you can feel the buzz in the air, and it’s easy to see why. Flag football—that lightning-fast, skillful, no-tackle version of the game so many of us adore—has officially made it to the 2028 Olympics. This is a huge win, one that the NFL has been working towards to spread its passion for the game across the globe. And who’s leading the charge of enthusiasm? None other than the players themselves.

Think about it: Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs’ legendary quarterback, and Tyreek Hill, the Miami Dolphins’ human blur, have all shown interest. With this kind of star power ready to light up the Olympics, what could stand in the way? Well, as with any big decision, not everyone is throwing confetti just yet. As the outcome of the vote has not yet come. Whether the resolution will be passed or rejected, the hour of revelation is not far now.

Besides that, some team managers are also looking at this with a more cautious eye. They’re asking the tough questions: What if a star player twists an ankle chasing a flag? Could a more serious injury potentially sideline them for the NFL season? It’s a delicate dance between embracing a patriotic, global showcase and protecting the massive investments they have in their players and teams. Experts weigh in with their opinions.

The Unseen Risks of Olympic Flag Football

Imagine Patrick Mahomes, fresh off another Super Bowl win, picturing himself draped in an Olympic medal, not for throwing touchdowns, but for flag football. Pretty cool, right? That’s the dream for a lot of NFL stars as flag football eyes the 2028 Olympics. And let’s be honest, we’re all buzzing at the thought of a Team USA stacked with talent. But here’s the thing: while flag football feels super safe, especially compared to the bone-jarring hits of tackle football, some medical pros are waving a yellow flag.

A 2021 CDC study, for example, gives us a bit of a reality check. Sure, head injuries are way less common—like, 15 times less common—but they’re not zero. It makes you wonder, if it’s “noncontact,” how risky can it be? Dr. Robert Parisien, an orthopedic surgeon at New York’s Mt. Sinai, has been digging into this. He even co-authored a 2025 study that looked at a decade of flag football injuries, pulling data from over 2,500 emergency room visits.

And what did they find? A lot of finger injuries from grabbing flags, and plenty of sprains. “There’s certainly a risk of injury in flag football,” Parisien straight-up warned, busting that “low-risk” myth wide open. What caught his attention, especially for these top-tier athletes playing at full throttle, were those noncontact twisting injuries—think dreaded ACL tears. Could an Olympic flag football game sideline an NFL star for their regular season? That’s the nightmare scenario.

We’ve even seen this movie before, in a way. Back in 1999, the Patriots’ Robert Edwards suffered a horrific knee injury during a Pro Bowl flag game, tearing multiple ligaments and missing three entire seasons. It’s a stark reminder. “They’re at risk for concussions… ligamentous injury,” Parisien stressed, urging everyone to proceed with caution.

Yet, he can’t help but admire the players’ patriotism, their desire to represent their country. So, it boils down to this: can the NFL find a way to let their stars chase Olympic glory without putting their careers and their health on the line? It’s a tough balancing act, for sure.