If active NFL players are in play, the selection of the U.S. men's flag team will become very interesting
The NFL hopes to persuade the various owners to get behind the idea of allowing active players to participate in the 2028 Olympics flag football tournament in part by limiting participation to one player from each NFL team.
That will make for some interesting decisions regarding which players from each franchise will be the one to be permitted to play.
Presumably, more than one player per NFL team will want to do it. It could make for some interesting debates as to who gets to go.
Then there's the question of who will pick the Olympics flag football team, and how the decisions will be made. Will the U.S. Olympic Committee pick the players? Will there be a qualification process? A competition?
Owners will want to minimize the occasions for players to get injured. They'll want the team to be hand picked.
Then there's the argument made last year by current U.S. flag football quarterback Darrell 'Housh' Doucette that it's 'disrespectful' for NFL players to horn in on the flag turf and that Doucette would be a better pick than Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
If the owners pass the resolution allowing active players to play, it will be only the beginning of a process that will entail tough choices for the USOC — and heated conversations about which player from each team will be allowed to play. And whether the U.S. men's flag football team members for the other three years and 50 weeks will be told to take a seat and allow NFL players to play a version of the sport that is very different from 11-on-11 tackle.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Burgess wins first World Cup silver in six years
Great Britain's Adam Burgess claimed a first C1 World Cup silver since 2019 after a "pretty special" run in the heats. The 32-year-old saw off competition from Olympic champion Nicolas Gestin to finish in second, behind Slovenia's Luka Bozic. Advertisement Burgess produced a stunning run during the heats in north-east Spain to move to the top of the standings. The Stoke-born paddler was last to compete in the finals, but produced a penalty-free run to the start the season in emphatic fashion. Burgess won Olympic silver in the individual canoe at the Paris Games, having agonisingly missed out on a medal by 0.16 seconds in Tokyo in 2020. "I'm always there or thereabouts, and we have done a lot of work to try and bring out those runs in the final, and I guess today, my worst run was the final, but that heat was something pretty special," said Burgess. "It was great to come close to it again there."
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Patrick Mahomes' Change in Physical Appearance Turns Heads on Saturday
Patrick Mahomes' Change in Physical Appearance Turns Heads on Saturday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Patrick Mahomes continues to establish himself as one of the top players in NFL history, having cemented an incredible legacy with the Kansas City Chiefs. Advertisement Last season, Mahomes led the Chiefs to their third straight Super Bowl appearance, having previously won in 2023 and 2024. They finished the season with a 17-3 record, defeating the Houston Texans and the Buffalo Bills. Kansas City won the AFC championship, their fifth conference title since Mahomes joined the franchise. Now, during the offseason, Mahomes is preparing to take the Chiefs on another Super Bowl run. On Saturday, while Patrick Mahomes and the rest of his teammates train in the offseason, a photo of the Chiefs quarterback surfaced with a change in his facial appearance. The fan who posted the photo of Mahomes mentioned that his goatee has connected. Before then, Mahomes was rocking a mustache and a short shaved beard. Upon the release of the post, some fans took to social media, sharing their thoughts on Patrick Mahomes' change in appearance during the offseason. Advertisement "Is he trying to be Jalen Hurts?" said one fan. "He's so hot," said another fan. "It's trying. it's trying," mentioned one fan. "I didn't notice," commented one fan. "So begins his villain arc," said one fan. "It only took him almost 10 years lol," said another fan. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15).Denny Medley-Imagn Images Last season with the Kansas City Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes posted 26 touchdown and 3,928 yards, completing 67.5% of his pass attempts. Mahomes also finished the season with a 67.6 QBR and a 93.5 quarterback rating. Related: Patrick Mahomes Turns Heads with Personal Announcement on Sunday Related: Brittany Mahomes' Change in Physical Appearance Catches Attention This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Harrison, Dvalishvili celebrate as 135-pound champions at UFC 316 with President Trump looking on
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Kayla Harrison had just added UFC gold to her championship fight collection — and hugged it out with President Donald Trump — and still clutched the title belt when she bumped into Merab Dvalishvili backstage. Dvalishvili was on cloud nine — well, make it 13 to match his winning streak — after he successfully defended his 135-pound championship with a dominant performance in the main event of UFC 316. Two bantamweight champions. One big party. 'Congratulations, champ! Let me raise your hand,' Dvalishvili told Harrison. 'We are the champions!' Dvalishvili then issued a quick pointer to Harrison — more used to wearing Olympic gold around her neck —- on how to hold the belt for a photo opp. She best enjoy her time atop the division while she can — Harrison's presumed next challenger in Amanda Nunes stepping out of retirement and into the cage for a chance to get her belt back. Dvalishvili retained his 135-pound championship when he tapped out Sean O'Malley in the third round and Harrison made 135-pound champion Julianna Peña quit with five seconds left in the second round in front of a crowd that included Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson on Saturday night at the Prudential Center. Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing — though not aesthetically pleasing — unanimous decision last year over O'Malley. O'Malley realized after the loss to truly be at his best — as a fighter , as a family man — he needed to make difficult lifestyle sacrifices to round himself into peak form. The 30-year-old contender quit smoking marijuana among other bad habits and also ditched his trademark dyed hair. No more cornucopia of colors that turned his locks into rainbows or cotton candy tops. O'Malley sported brown, braided hair for the fight — leaving his fans to wear bright afro wigs in his honor. New look, same result. Dvalishvili — who had to duck a small railing collapse on his walk out that almost had fans spill onto the floor — ran his record to 20-4 and sat on top of the cage and bellowed toward the 17,343 fans in the start of an exuberant celebration of his 13th straight MMA victory, tied for fourth longest in UFC history. 'I'm on top of the world!,' he said inside the cage. That made the bantamweight champs 1 for 2 on the night. Harrison, who said she struggled so hard with cutting weight to 135 pounds that she feared just how she would make it in one piece ahead of the weigh in, continued to move up the list in just a short time as one of the great female fighters in MMA history. She's used to major victories in the spotlight. No U.S. judoka — man or woman — had ever won an Olympic gold medal before Harrison beat Britain's Gemma Gibbons to win the women's 78-kilogram division at the 2012 London Olympics. She won gold again four years later at the Rio de Janeiro Games and made her MMA debut in 2018. The 34-year-old Harrison was a two-time $1 million prize champion in the Professional Fighters League lightweight championship division before she moved on to UFC last year. She won her first two UFC bouts and her record — now a sparkling 19-1 in MMA overall — coupled with her fame made her an instant contender for a title shot. She needed just three UFC fights to become a champion. Harrison dropped to her knees in a teary celebration as Ivanka Trump stood and snapped photos of the moment. Harrison then called out Nunes, who retired in 2023 but said ahead of the fight she would return to the cage to fight the winner. 'I definitely want to fight Amanda. She's the greatest of all time,' Harrison said. 'I want to be the greatest of all time.' Harrison called out Nunes to enter the ring and after some encouragement from announcer Joe Rogan for security to open the cage door, she walked in and the two went face-to-face. Nunes, who is set for induction this summer into the UFC Hall of Fame, said she would indeed fight Harrison at some point for the 135-pound belt. The crowd went wild as the two engaged in a brief staredown. 'We're going to bring women's MMA to a whole new level,' Harrison said. The moment had fans roaring in delight much as they did hours earlier when Trump walked out to a thunderous standing ovation just ahead of the start of the UFC pay-per-view card. Trump was accompanied by UFC President Dana White and the pair headed to their cageside seats for UFC 316 to Kid Rock's 'American Bad Ass.' Harrison took a page from her judo career and bowed to Trump as a sign of respect before the bout and hugged him after the win. She received a congratulatory kiss on the cheek from Trump and posed for photos with the President and his entourage. It wasn't the only nod to Trump's latest appearance at a UFC fight. UFC fighter Kevin Holland choked out Vicente Luque to win the first fight with Trump in the building. He scaled the cage and shook hands with Trump. He briefly chatted with Trump and White before he returned for his post-fight interview. Joe Pyfer draped himself in the American flag after he defeated Kelvin Gastelum in a middleweight bout by unanimous decision. 'We've got the President of the United States! We've got Mike Tyson,' Pyfer bellowed inside the cage. ___ AP sports:
