Olympics flag football teams cover the USA with famous players like Tyreek Hill and Rob Gronowski showing interest in the 12-man roster.
The official names of the national team to participate in the global tournament is yet to be made public while Canada and Mexico are among the expected team to take part in the competition.
At present time, there are two national teams which include men’s and women’s squad that plays the non-contact version of the gridiron at the international level.
Many players from those national teams can be expected to participate in the Los Angeles 2028 games. Some of the best-guessed names of the athletes are wide receiver Aamir Brown, defensive back Velton Brown Jr., and quarterback Darrell “Housh” Doucette among others.
Similarly, some names from the women’s national team might comprise WR/DB Deliah Autry, QB Vanita Krouch, rusher Nancy Nguyen, DB Amyelia Gaudio, and WR/DB Ashley Edwards, etc.
Some active as well as former NFL players might also be eligible to play in the competition. Jorge Cascudo and Saaid Mortazavi are the current head coaches of the Men’s and Women’s national teams.
Is Flag Football In The Olympics?
Flag football in 2028 Olympics was made official on Monday, 16 October 2023. The sport was voted in by the International Olympic Committee in India.
The inclusion is the result of the hard work of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF), NFL, and other different personalities who played a central role in helping the game debut in the Olympics.
American football in its full contact form was previously demonstrated in the 1932 Olympics when Los Angeles first hosted the summer version of the international competing platform.
The current addition is the non-contact form of the football which doesn’t involve any tackling instead the defenders have to pull out the flag from the flag belt to stop a down.
The landmark achievement has been widely applauded and appreciated by football fans across the globe and it is the first time ever in the history that the game is being included as the official sport competition in the LA28.
The game is the most inclusive form of American football that displays equality as women also participate in the game and is popular worldwide.
If we are to look at the current stats, there are 20 million people spread over more than 100 countries who are currently engaged in the discipline and it has a global fanbase of 340 million people.
USA Flag Football Team
There is plenty of time to decide what group of players will make the USA national team to participate in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The qualifying procedures are generally made public 2 years prior to the game so the official release will happen in 2026. It is also hard to say whether the NFL players will participate in the game while many argue that active NFL athletes may be allowed.
As the announcement to bound the non-contact form of the football came out last Monday, Rob Gronkowski, the former NFL tight end has already decided to take part in LA28 being a part of the team.
He has given a statement that he would very much like to take part in the national team of non-contact football. As reported by the Sports Illustrated he has already asked to count him in to return to the gridion again.
As per the NFL executive Peter O’Reilly, the League will coordinate with NFLPA to discuss the permission for the current as well as former NFL players to participate in the non-contact gridiron in 2028.
On the other hand, some NFL players including Tyreek Hill, current wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins have also expressed interest in participating in the game and passed a remark on his podcast saying, “You know how amazing it would be to assemble a superteam to play in the Olympics.”
There are currently two national teams which includes Men’s and Women’s flag football squad to compete at the international level. There are 18 players in each team roster.
Will 2024 Have The Sport?
Flag football 2024 Olympics is not included as the decision was made to make it an official sport of the Olympics going to be held in LA in 2028.
The 2024 series of competitions is happening in Paris which includes a total of four sports that are not usually seen on the platform. The games include breaking aka break dance, skateboarding, and surfing.
Skate and surfing were also part of the 2020 version of the competition while the breakdance or breaking is the newest addition in the history of the Olympiad.
The upcoming series of the greatest show on Earth is scheduled to officially begin on 26 July 2024 in the city of Love, the capital of France which will turn into a city of sports during the game period.
Olympic Flag Football Rules
The game will be played in a 5-on-5 format on a 50-yard field and there will be no defensive or offensive lines. Teams will have 12 players on their roster.
The IOC has agreed upon this international format and rules of the game. While the official ruling and guide will be decided in the near future, the international set of regulations might also include:
- The defensive players will pull the flag from the belt of the ball carrier instead of tackling them.
- All teams must contain players of the same gender.
- To attempt to cross midfield for a new set of downs, each team will be provided four downs.
- On an unsuccessful set of downs, the ball will be given back to the defense on its own 5-yard line.
- When intercepted, the defense should be given the ball at the spot of the interception.
- Teams are permitted to run the ball anywhere on the field besides the five-yard areas directly marking the end zone.
- It is considered illegal when the defender jumps or dives at the ball carrier.
- A maximum of two blitzes can be contained by the defense of each team and may rush the quarterback directly which can be done as long as all parts of their body are more than seven yards from the line of scrimmage.
- No kicks or any other form of contact will be allowed.
- A touchdown will give six points like that of the contact football.
- The offense has the right to elect a one-point try from the 5-yard line or a two-point try from the 10-yard line once a touchdown is scored.
- Whenever a safety occurs, it is eligible for two points.
- A defensive touchdown made on a point-after try will also provide two points to the team.
- The runtime for the game is 40 minutes which will be split into two halves each containing 20 minutes.
- The game will have a 2-minute halftime break as well.
- The clock will continuously run until the final two minutes of each half and during the period the clock stoppage will occur only after a first down, incomplete pass, penalty, a score, a runner goes out of bounds, or a charged timeout.
- If the score is tied each team will be provided a series of downs to try to score. The game ends if any team scores during the first series.
- If any team does not score, then one play will be given for a one-point try from the 5-yard line to each team which will continue till a group leads the scoreboard after tryouts by both.
When Will The Official Ruling Come Out?
The official directives, rules, and qualifying format for any Olympic games usually come out 2 years prior to the beginning of the series.
While it is hard to quote the exact date for the release of the format and rulings, the best-guessed date as per the previous trends of the committee is the year 2026.
Since the IOC has accepted the existing format of 50-yard field and 5-on-5 matchup, there is a higher probability that most of the existing regulations and provisions will prevail in the LA28 games while it is not harmful to expect subtle changes.
The committee in coordination with the stakeholders might agree upon some of the major changes that are to be made and adjusted which best fit organizers’ criteria for executing successful sports events.
New Sports For 2028 Olympics
Los Angeles Olympics 2028 new sports covers Flag Football, Cricket, Lacrosse, Squash, Karate, Kickboxing, Motorsports, Baseball, and Softball.
Baseball, softball, and cricket were seen in the past series of the competition while the non-contact format football and Squash are the newest addition in the history of the platform.
The five sports including non-contact football, baseball-softball, cricket, lacrosse, and squash are an integral part of the American sports culture and are expected to showcase the world the iconic presence of such interesting sports to the world in 2028.
Los Angeles 2028 will be the first series of the global tournament in 26 years to be held in America. In 2002, The Winter version of The Greatest Show on Earth was held in Salt Lake Lake City last time.
Baseball and softball did appear in the 2020 series of the tournament and have been removed from the 2024 games that are going to be held in Paris in July 2024.
Lacrosse which is believed to have come from North American roots also appeared in the 1904 series of competitions which was held in St. Louis and in 1908 London games.
While football is the most popular sport in the United States, the non-contact version of it has never been included in any series of the tournament until now.
So the success of the stakeholders to be able to include this one of the most inclusive versions of sports across the globe in such a great platform has been considered a landmark achievement by the global football community.
The IOC has been deliberately working to stretch its platform to newer versions of sports in order to make the most popular global tournament home to many popular games worldwide.