(Reuters) – The National Football League (NFL) said on Monday it was in talks to clear a path for interested players to compete in flag football at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after many expressed a desire to play for their country.
Flag, a variation of American football where players do not tackle each other but instead remove one of two flags that hang from the hips of the ball carrier, will make its Olympic debut in 2028 and NFL players are keen to get in on the action.
“The amount of enthusiasm that we’ve seen among our players, or more broadly for flag football in ’28, I guess probably because we are just coming off the (Paris) Olympics, has been remarkable,” NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Miller told a media briefing.
“A number of players have expressed a great deal of interest and enthusiasm in playing in the Olympics and representing their country which is just quite a remarkable thing to see and listen to.”
Miller did not name players who had expressed their interest in competing on the Olympic stage but Patrick Mahomes, quarterback of the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, is one of the more high-profile player who has done so.
For now, Miller said the NFL was discussing with the National Football League Players Association how to clear a pathway for the stars of the gridiron to have a chance to compete in the Olympics.
“Conversations are continuing to go on with the Players Association, with the players themselves,” said Miller.
“But obviously the hope would be that players who would want to participate in the Olympics and represent their country have that opportunity to do so.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; editing by Clare Fallon)
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