Josh Allen said he would be "very honored" to play for Team USA in flag football at the 2028 Summer Olympics, while NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he expects active players and possibly recently retired stars to be in the mix when the sport makes its Olympic debut.
Who Gets to Play
Allen, the 2024 NFL MVP, said, "I'm interested," and later added, "I've always thought it would be really cool to compete for my country. Now, if I have the skill set, that's a different story. I watched (flag football) not too long ago when it was on TV. Those guys just kind of move different. Their hips are dipping a foot down and they're able to evade. I can throw with the best of them. But I'm better at usually running through people than spinning and getting around them."
That’s the clean little contradiction at the center of it. A star quarterback talks about national pride and Olympic glory, while also admitting the sport asks for something different than the bruising, collision-heavy game that made him famous. The Games are slated to begin in mid-July 2028 in Los Angeles, and Allen said he is interested in representing the United States there.
Goodell said he recently heard from many players who want to take part in the Olympic tournament. He told ESPN's "Women's Sports Now," "I've had a lot of players that have said, ‘We want to participate in that,’" and added, "These players are competitors, and they love the big stage. To win a gold medal or any medal is something I think they would all treasure. They talk about it all the time. So, I absolutely believe we're going to have players in the Olympics."
Who Makes the Rules
The real gatekeepers sit higher up the chain. In May 2025, a resolution was introduced to NFL team owners that would allow one player from each NFL roster to compete in the 2028 Games. An exemption would be granted for each team's designated international player representing his home country. That’s the apparatus deciding who gets to leave the regular machine and who stays put.
Goodell said the Olympic calendar creates a natural window for NFL players because flag football will be played before training camps open. That timing matters because it turns the Olympics into something the league can fit around its own schedule, not the other way around. The article said active players and possibly recently retired stars could be in the mix.
The whole setup runs through institutions with plenty of power and very little accountability to the people who actually watch, play, and pay. NFL team owners get a resolution. The commissioner gets to predict the future. Players get to hope they’re chosen.
What They're Selling
The article also said Allen was speaking on behalf of Natrol, which recently announced an expanded partnership with him. It identified him as the Buffalo Bills star. That’s the corporate layer wrapped around the spectacle: the athlete as brand, the brand as message, the message as opportunity.
The piece also noted that Allen looked to pass against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Oct. 16, 2022, and that he warmed up before an AFC wild-card playoff matchup on Jan. 11, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. Those details sit there like reminders of where the money and attention already flow, long before any Olympic medal gets handed out.
The 2028 Summer Olympics are slated to begin in mid-July. By then, if the owners and league officials get their way, one player from each NFL roster may be allowed into the tournament, with an exemption for each team's designated international player. The players can call it honor. The league can call it opportunity. The structure underneath still looks like a closed room with a few people holding the keys.