The beautiful thing about the NFL calendar is that it runs year-round. Sure, the Super Bowl was played over a week ago, but already we're seeing players getting ready to move to new teams. Free agency is almost upon us, and right after that will be the draft and the schedule reveal.
This is all done by meticulous design, so that the NFL keeps us addicted and constantly thinking football. It sounds nefarious, and it probably is, but as one of the many millions who plans his week around fall Sundays, this isn't even a complaint. Yes I'm hooked, but I'm OK with it, too.
It might sound odd to say, given that there's always football news of some kind, but sometimes you just want a little more, you know? And though the season just ended and new head coaches have been hired and there's a whole cottage industry around restructuring your favorite teams' salary cap to make room for that difference-making wide receiver or defensive end, my football-obsessed brain still isn't satisfied. I've also been watching a lot of the Winter Olympics, and as always, it's been a riveting production. The average sports fan doesn't see much of these sports outside of once every four years, but you can't help but marvel at the dedication and precision of these athletes.
We love to talk about athletes crossing over into other sports, but there are very few guys like Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson that have ever excelled at both. Could LeBron James have been a tight end? What if Russell Wilson chose baseball instead of football? They're all fun to think about, and in that vein, I've been watching the events unfold from Milan-Cortina and wondering how our current NFL players would fare if they had been Olympians instead. Here are a bunch of them that have the tools to win gold.
Saquon Barkley: Short Track Speed Skating
This whole idea came to me in the first place when NBC's broadcast showed a side-by-side thigh comparison of Saquon Barkley and American speed skater Jordan Stolz. Football fans already know about Saquon's legendary legs, but it was incredible to see that Stolz is right there with him. It makes you wonder how figure skater Ilia Malinin got the title of "Quad God" instead of either of these two (it's the jumps, but still).
Stolz has already won two golds in these Olympics, in the Men's 1000m and the Men's 500m, and he set an Olympic record in each event in the process. He still has three events to add to his hardware total, too. It's difficult to imagine that Saquon could do any better if he'd dedicated his life to the rink instead of the gridiron, but for our most recent Madden cover athlete, it's still an enticing thought.
Myles Garrett: Bobsled
Myles Garrett is fresh off setting the NFL sack record, and he already flew to Milan to support his girlfriend, star snowboarder Chloe Kim. Kim won two golds in Beijing in 2022, and she persevered through a shoulder injury to earn a silver last week with Garrett in attendance. Everyone loves a cross-sport power couple, and since he was going anyway and is a superstar athlete in his own right, why not find an event that could work for him?
Garrett's immense size probably precludes him from being a dominant snowboarder, but with his pass-rushing skills, he'd be perfect for the bobsled. This is a guy that pushes 350-pound linemen back into the quarterback with ease, so pushing a sled would be easy work for him. There's also a history of football players in the sport, as Herschel Walker competed in the 2-man bobsled in the 1992 Lillehammer Olympics, finishing seventh. Whether it's in the monobob or with some partners, Garrett could do even better.
Caleb Williams: Freestyle Skiing Big Air
One of the most awe-inspiring events at the Winter Olympics is the freestyle skiing big air, in which competitors rocket down a slope then take off in flight while pulling off a series of tricks that would make Tony Hawk blush. I honestly have no idea how anybody survives these jumps, let alone lands them.
Competing in big air takes superior body control, endless creativity, and the willingness to try the seemingly impossible. Sound like anybody we watched this past season? Caleb Williams wowed fans all year long by making some of the most ridiculous plays we've ever seen, from his overtime game-winning bomb to DJ Moore against the Packers in the regular season, to his off-platform fourth-down dot to Rome Odunze to spark a late comeback over the Pack in the playoffs.
Williams' season-saving play against the Rams in the divisional round, in which he sprinted about 30 yards backwards and uncorked a breathtaking game-tying throw to Cole Kmet on fourth down, proved that he is willing to try absolutely anything on the football field. His immeasurable physical gifts did the rest. Let's get some skis on him and prepare to be wowed.
Bijon Robinson: Alpine Skiing
Not all skiing events are created equally, so when it comes to finding a football player best suited to alpine skiing, Bijan Robinson is our gold medal favorite. The star Falcons running back has the versatility to succeed in any event — from the downhill, to the super G, to the slalom.
Robinson has a strong case as the most difficult player to tackle in the NFL. He's fast, he's elusive, he's patient, and he can change direction like few others. He's already being talked about as an MVP candidate for next season. Those qualities would all come in handy on the slopes.
Team USA has a long, proud history in alpine skiing, from Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn to Bode Miller, Ted Ligety and Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who took silver in the super G each of the last two Olympics. Robinson has what it takes to continue that legacy.
Travis Hunter: Nordic Combined
Travis Hunter's injury-plagued rookie season may not have allowed him to live up to his Heisman billing, but there's still plenty of reason to be optimistic about his future, especially now that the Jaguars look like they actually know what they're doing.
Hunter is reportedly going to be more of a full-time defensive player next year, but his ability to play both cornerback and wide receiver makes him the most natural fit for nordic combined, in which competitors must be proficient at both ski jumping and cross-country skiing. Just as he became just the second Colorado Buffalo to win the Heisman (joining 1994 winner Rashaan Salaam), he could also become just the second American to medal in nordic combined, joining Johnny Spillane, who took home silver in the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Tyreek Hill: Luge
The luge is all about speed, which makes Tyreek Hill a no-brainer for our best-suited NFL player. Hill has been the fastest player in the NFL his entire career, and even after suffering a grisly knee injury in September, the smart money is still on him to keep that title when he comes back.
Hill was recently cut by the Dolphins, so he'll be playing somewhere else in 2026. That could also free him up in the meantime to train in a different sport if he was so inclined, and though luge is physically intense in its own right, at least Hill wouldn't have to worry about being hit by a heat-seeking free safety as he sped down the course.
Hill has shown an interest in the Olympics in the past, most notably in his ongoing beef with World's Fastest Man Noah Lyles. The two have danced around the idea of racing against each other, but to date, it hasn't happened. A pivot to the luge track could give the Cheetah another venue to prove his speed, although he might have to change his nickname to something more befitting the colder environs. Snow Leopard, perhaps?
Christian McCaffrey: Cross-Country Skiing
You may not think that cross-country skiing would be super exciting as a spectator sport, but I've been strangely transfixed watching it in these Olympics. This is a real test of endurance, even more than long-distance running, because these athletes have to cover so much ground on skis in the freezing cold. Not only that, they don't have the luxury of letting a hill do the work, because they need to power themselves through the course on their own.
Christian McCaffrey was invaluable in starring for the injury-depleted 49ers this year, shedding his own injury-prone label and winning Comeback Player of the Year in the process by leading the NFL in total touches. Whether it was taking more than 18 carries a game or outpacing the league with 23 more receptions (102 total) than the next-closest running back, Run CMC did everything he could to keep the Niners in the hunt. That endurance and determination will serve him well in cross-country skiing.
Puka Nacua: Figure skating
Figure skating is arguably the flagship event of the Winter Olympics, so we need to find an NFL player who could make a good figure skater to round out our team. Let's stay in the NFC West and go with Puka Nacua, because his mix of balance, route-running ability and physicality makes him the ideal choice.
Nacua isn't the fastest receiver in the NFL, but he may be the most technically sound. That's a vital component of figure skating, where every routine is choreographed to the letter and every jump demands such power and precision.
Nacua has pulled off some acrobatic moves in his career, and his ability to come down inbounds with the ball, even with minimal space on the sideline, shows that he has the nimble feet needed to become a figure skating great.
Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo: Skeleton
I began this exercise by writing Jaxson Dart's name in pen as our skeleton racer, but honestly, we need his backfield mate Cam Skattebo with him. Both players play with an uncommon recklessness, continually showing their disregard for their own health by selling out their bodies to get an extra yard. Skeleton is a one-man event, but there's a good chance we'd need an alternate with these guys.
To do the skeleton, you have to be a little nuts. Just imagine looking at luge and saying, "That's pretty cool, but I wish I was hurtling 90 mph through a tube of ice head-first instead." Dart and Skattebo might re-injure themselves running so fast to the sign-up sheet.
There's no way new Giants head coach John Harbaugh will want two of his most important young players doing this, but something tells me that won't stop them if we give them the chance.
Sam Darnold, Kenneth Walker, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Michael Dickson: Curling
Let's end it with the Super Bowl champs, who really used a complete team effort to lift the Lombardi Trophy. That's why the Seahawks are our curling team, because we need four players on the ice and there's no group more worthy of our trust.
Curling is all about strategy and threading the needle at the perfect time. Sam Darnold did just that in the playoffs and especially the Super Bowl, with multiple passes that just narrowly avoided being picked off. Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, with his patient running style, knew just when to find the hole against New England's highly-ranked rushing defense.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba was quiet in the Super Bowl, but there wasn't a receiver all year who was better at finding space. With his footwork and quick twitch ability, he could easily sweep the stones where they need to go. And as for Michael Dickson, he continually pinned the Patriots inside the 10 with his precision punts, so there's no doubt his sniper-like accuracy would come in handy.