As if NFL players weren’t already used to drama amongst themselves, now there might be some between the league's brightest stars and the flag football players representing the USA in the Olympics. Jason Kelce recently offered up this idea on an episode of his and his brother Travis’ “New Heights” podcast, for the launch of Olympic flag football.
“I think a coach that is familiar with flag football should select an NFL-represented team. That team should just play this flag football team that’s been playing for a long time and feels like they are the best at it and don’t need other guys.”
This was Kelce’s response to Team USA’s national flag football quarterback, Darrell Doucette’s comments about adding NFL players to the squad.
“This is a sport that we’ve played for a long time, and we feel like we are the best at it..." Doucette told the Washington Post. "We don’t need other guys."
Would NFL players be willing to risk embarrassment for a chance at Olympic glory?
This can only be a lose-lose proposition for NFL stars to participate in such a challenge. NFL players should be able to beat flag football players in the eyes of most fans so imagine if they lost. The NFL players involved would never live that down.
Sure, there would be plenty of NFL players ready to compete for the country in hopes of winning gold but injuries can happen in flag football too. Plus, the 2028 Summer Olympics run concurrent with the start of NFL training camps. So, it’d be hard to picture too many NFL starting-caliber players trading in their pads for flags, even if only for a couple of weeks.
Overall, it just isn’t worth the potential scrutiny, especially if the NFL players fall in defeat to these flag football veterans. Nothing about this sounds like a win for the NFL.