Flag Football Is Coming to the Olympics

Football is coming to the Summer Olympic Games. The American kind that is and the version with flags instead of pads. Starting in 2028, during the Summer Games in Los Angeles, you can potentially see star athletes from around the world, be it Patrick Mahomes and Justin Jefferson, to collegiate and international breakouts make their mark on the game on a truly global level.

For years, there has been a stigma surrounding flag football as an inferior iteration of the sport, reserved for rec leagues and novices. Just this week, Tom Brady went on record to (ironically) criticize the NFL’s officials for making the game soft. Years from now, however, the mere inclusion of the game on such a globally competitive stage may go down as one of the biggest developments for the sport since the NFL-AFL merger. Former greats have long known these benefits, such as Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Michael Vick, Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens, who occasionally still compete in flag football leagues, such as the American Flag Football League (AFFL). Many of them note how you can enhance everything from your route running and breakaway speed to the way you strategize on defense.

The NFL has caught on, actively investing in flag football leagues at every level of the game — from pop Warner to high school, college to the Pro Bowl, California all the way to Catania. Most notably of all, flag football has quietly emerged as the most inclusive iteration of the game — where diversity, equity and inclusion aren’t empty promises stamped on the back of helmets, but lived experiences on-and-off the field. The sport is unquestionably safer as well, which will add growing interest for parents who question the game’s baked in violence, while still experiencing the teamwork, strategy and excitement of football.