Players enthusiastic about flag football’s Olympic debut in ‘28

ORLANDO, FLA. >> Tyreek Hill is a five-time All-Pro, eight-time Pro Bowl selection and a Super Bowl champion.

The speedy Miami Dolphins receiver likes the idea of also having an opportunity to pursue Olympic gold when the rapidly growing sport of flag football debuts in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, a sentiment shared by other NFL stars, including Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Hill, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and running back Raheem Mostert, Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram are among the players representing the AFC and NFC at the Pro Bowl Games, which conclude

Sunday with a seven-on-seven flag exhibition that will offer fans and a national television audience a sense of what the sport could look like with such highly skilled talent on the field.

“That’s going to be really exciting,” Tagovailoa said, adding he played flag football as a 5- or 6-yearold and is eager to see the makeup of the roster for Team USA in four years.

Flag football is one of five sports added to the Olympic program for 2028.

The NFL, which continues to expand its global brand, has expressed a willingness to work with the NFL Players Association, USA Football, the International Federation of American Football and the International Olympic Committee regarding the prospect of current and former players participating in Los Angeles.

“Those conversations around eligibility and process have started,” league executive Peter O’Reilly said.

“Obviously, (there’s) a little bit of time, and there’s a lot of great global flag football competitions to come in the years ahead that may be less on people’s radars — world championships, world games ... but important things for us to work through, and we’ll continue to do that,” O’Reilly added.

This is the second year that Pro Bowl week festivities have culminated with a non-contact flag game that’s replaced the event’s traditional tackle exhibition.

The NFL has helped spur the growth of flag football for young boys and girls throughout the world, in part through organizing clinics, camps and competitions while supporting the creation of college scholarships.

Youth teams of boys and girls from Australia, the Bahamas, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and the United Kingdom traveled to Orlando, Florida, to compete in the International NFL Flag Championships during the Pro Bowl Games.

Canada, which won last year’s NFL Flag International Division, made the trip to face U.S. flag teams in the National NFL Flag Championship event.

Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who is coaching the NFC in Sunday’s flag game at Camping World Stadium, is supportive of the idea of NFL players participating in the Olympics.

“I think it’s great. The fact that they have an impact on that and growing the game of flag football,” Manning said.