The NFL Is Encouraging Players To Play Flag Football At The 2028 Olympics And Micah Parsons Is Looking To Put Together A Superteam
FOS- The NFL is encouraging active players to participate in flag football’s newly approved inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, calling it the “pinnacle” of the sport on the global stage. Responding to a Front Office Sports question at fall league meetings in New York, NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly said the league will be working with key entities such as the NFL Players Association and national governing body USA Football to create a pathway for players to compete in those Games.
“We understand the desire,” O’Reilly said. “We think it’s a great opportunity, because the player interest is real and palpable. There’s a desire to work through with these stakeholders and get to that outcome for July [2028].”
“Clearly in the leadup to the announcement, and then [Monday], there was a lot of excitement, as you might expect, from great NFL athletes and NFL legends who love the idea of representing their country on an Olympic stage,” O’Reilly said.
So flag football got approved for the 2028 Olympics, which led to Micah Parsons both putting out calls to assemble a superteam, along with Tyreek Hill who already had said he was interested in playing.
Here are the rules for flag football from the Olympics homepage:
As in American football, the aim of flag football is to advance up the pitch via a series of offensive plays into the opposition’s defensive endzone.
This is a no-contact sport with ‘tackles’ made by removing one of three ‘flags’ - more akin to fabric belts - attached to the ball-carrier’s waist with one on each side and another at the back.
Play starts at a team’s own five-yard line with the centre snapping the ball back to the quarterback who either passes the ball forward to try and find a receiver, or hands off to a running back.
The play is over when either a flag is removed, the ball-carrier goes out of bounds, or a forward pass hits the ground.
Each team has four attempts - known as downs - to reach the halfway line. If successful, they have another four downs to reach the endzone and score a touchdown. If unsuccessful on either count, the ball is turned over to the opposition who start on their own five-yard line.
Turnovers also occur due to interceptions - when a defender catches a ball intended for a receiver - and fumbles, when the ball-carrier drops the ball and a defender collects.
In flag football, no running plays are permitted when the offensive team is five yards or less from the endzone.
After a touchdown, which is worth six points, teams go for an extra point - by running or passing - from the five-yard line, or two extra points from the 10-yard line.
A flag football pitch measures 70 x 30 yards (64m x 27.4m) with 10 yards (9.1m) allotted to each of the two endzones.
There are five players on each team on the field in a flag football match drawn from a 12-person squad. Players tend to specialise in either offence or defence.
Micah Parson's team would absolutely be a beast. Patrick Mahomes would be QB1 if active players were involved, right? I don't know what the blitzing rule is and QB running rule so it could be a tossup on whether mobility is that big of a factor.
I know that the title says the NFL wants active players, but it'd be way more fun with retired guys. I mean, we get to see those guys at least 17 weeks a year. I want to see some of America's legends ball out for one last time. I mean, I know it will be 2028, and these guys will be pretty old but this is my fantasy flag football team. These guys would be beasts. A lot of people saying "Its flag that's their physicality was the only reason they were good" IDC big targets boxing out foreigners is my idea of American supremacy.
(I know that's 6 guys but it will be situational whether to play the slot)
Anyway, that's what I got. Drop your starting offense and defense in the comments: