NFL owners will officially allow their players to participate in flag football for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. It's a huge milestone for the sport — and a source of tremendous anxiety for fanbases around the country.
Fans generally do not want to see their best players risk injury for a gold medal, although there is a unique place in history for stars who win on both the domestic and the international stage. Flag football is not the same as regular football either. There will be fewer injuries when tackling is removed from the equation.
We should expect plenty of stars to take interest in joining Team USA, but at the end of the day, it's a 10-person group, so the folks in charge of the U.S. flag football national team will need to be selective. If there's one player who should be on their radar, no questions asked, it's Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
It's a no-brainer.
Team USA should heavily pursue Ravens QB Lamar Jackson for 2028 Olympics
There will be a lot of Patrick Mahomes buzz. He has expressed interest in the Olympics before and he is widely hailed as Tom Brady's stiffest competition in the GOAT debate. Rightfully so. Mahomes has three Super Bowl MVPs under his belt and he probably owns the greatest canon in NFL history. It's only natural to want him on the Olympics stage.
Flag football requires a different skill set than the NFL, though. Mobility is a huge selling point for QBs in flag football, where the ability to navigate tight spaces and keep a flag on your hip (without losing sight of your targets downfield) is paramount.
Mahomes is plenty mobile, but Lamar Jackson takes it to another level. He's probably the best running quarterback in the NFL, and he's definitely the most evasive. Slender in build, but without sacrificing arm strength, Jackson can swivel his hips and tiptoe through small openings with the precision of a ballerina. He is borderline impossible to take down once he's rolling outside the pocket and determined to stay upright. Jackson's ability to run literal circles around the pass rush before launching it downfield ought to play well in a flag football setting.
Jackson will be 31 years old when the L.A. Olympics roll around. Not exactly a spring chicken, especially considering how many miles he puts on his knees compared to the average quarterback. That said, he's also a freak athlete and we've seen no signs of him slowing down yet. Already a two-time MVP (and he arguably should've bagged No. 3 last season), Jackson has cemented his place among the great quarterbacks of his generation. He merits consideration.
NFL fans are still waiting on Jackson to break through in the playoffs, but whether he does or not, his skill set is elite and it's a clear fit for the unique confines of a flag football game. Moreover, if Jackson cannot claim his first Super Bowl prior to 2028, what better way to augment his resume and improve his standing among the NFL greats than the first-even gold medal for an American pro quarterback? That puts him in the history books.