In any other year, we wouldn’t do much if anything with the press release announcing the roster of the U.S. men’s national flag football team. With the 2025 names being released on the first day of a week that will feature owners potentially paving the way for active NFL players in the 2028 Olympics, it’s worth passing it along.
From USA Football, here are the 12 players who will compete in the 2025 IFAF Americas Continental Flag Football Championship in Panama, which are scheduled for September: DB/WR Aamir Brown; WR/DB Velton Brown Jr.; DB/WR Isaiah Calhoun; QB Nico Casares; DB/WR Mike Daniels; WR/Rush Laval Davis; WR/DB Tyler Davis; QB/ATH Darrell “Housh” Doucette III; WR/DB Ja’Deion High; DB/WR Jamie Kennedy; WR/QB Laderrick “Pablo” Smith; Rush/WR Shawn Theard Jr.
How different that list of names might look in three years.
The 2025 team will gather in June for USA Football’s International Bowl, which is a “series of exhibitions between the U.S. and teams representing Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel and Japan.” Then, training camp will commence in July for the September competition.
These realities raise inescapable questions about the overlap between traditional flag football players and NFL players hoping to play flag football in July 2028.
First, how will the U.S. men’s team be picked? Will those who have been carrying the banner for flag football get the tap when the short-term “A” team shows up? Will there be an actual competition between a team of flag footballers and NFL players?
Even if NFL players are far more gifted than those who play flag football, it seems unfair to not give those who have been playing flag football a fair shot to represent the country in the Olympics. Even if NFL players can basically show up and dominate the flag football players it should be settled on the field.
Second, how will NFL players prepare for the Olympics tournament? Will they engage in exhibitions prior to the 2028 Olympics? How will that mesh with offseason workouts?
There’s a chance the NFL’s position will be fairly simple: “If you want our players, you’ll get them with minimal practice and preparation time.”
The resolution on which owners will vote this week expressly acknowledges that NFL players will be permitted “to try out” for the Olympic team. It says nothing about the duration or intensity of the tryouts.
The resolution also explains that the schedule for NFL players who play Olympic flag football must not “unreasonably conflict with an NFL player’s League and club commitments.” It’s impossible without more to know what will or won’t be viewed as reasonable or unreasonable.
Will missing OTAs and/or mandatory minicamp, for instance, be viewed as unreasonable?
There’s a delicate balance to be struck on this issue. The players who have spent years developing flag football skills shouldn’t be cast aside without at least a chance to defend their turf. The NFL players who pivot to flag will need to be ready for the very different rules and realities of the game; if they aren’t, there’s a chance that seasoned flag football players will run circles around them.
Through it all, NFL owners will want to minimize the number of opportunities for players to suffer an injury that will potentially end their 2028 seasons before they even start.
On the surface, it’s a basic proposition. The league wants to grow the sport globally, and it believes having NFL players in the Olympics will do that.
Lurking below the obvious Olympics + football + NFL players = international growth = $$$$$ is a more nuanced analysis driven by providing fair treatment to the existing U.S. men’s national team, by ensuring adequate preparation for the games, and by keeping the NFL players on loan to the Olympics healthy enough for their day (and night) jobs.
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