Chargers Star, After Injury News, Throws out a 2028 Olympics Hot Take

One Chargers star has changed his tune about flag football in the Olympics.

Derwin James | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Count Los Angeles Chargers star safety Derwin James as one of the NFL players who wants his coworkers in the league to back off the Olympics idea. 

NFL players joining Team USA flag football in 2028…in Los Angeles, no less…has been a hot topic ever since the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. 

James, who actually got pulled from that flag football event due to an unspecified injury, recently chatted about why NFL players should not partake in the Olympics. 

And to James’ credit, the bulk of his commentary wasn’t about injuries. 

Chargers’ Derwin James offers surprising Olympics flag football take

Derwin James | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Speaking with TMZ after the event, James briefly mentioned injuries before really getting into the crux of his argument. 

James offered a massive tip of the hat to the professional flag football players: 

“I say the next Olympics. Give them boys this one ’cause I feel they’re more prepared, they’re more skilled. I mean, you seen the formations they was running out there, it was crazy! Give the NFL players, you know, that’s kinda retired, already done playing, kind of on the backend, because I feel like a lot of those movements is a lot of risk on your joints, too.”

NFL players getting sort of embarrassed at the flag football event was a major talking point over the last week. It was perhaps the first time a national, even international audience got to see the actual differences in the “sports” in live action. 

Not every NFL player will agree with James. But it remains to be seen how the 2028 teams will actually get picked. If USA Football handles the process of picking the 10-man roster, it’s going to want the best actual flag football players while they compete for gold. 

As for James’ injury, no major details have gone public. Chargers fans, then, will probably be happy to think he’s expressing an abundance of caution around something minor before offseason activities. 

And, as an aside, though he certainly wouldn’t bring it up in the media, James has millions of reasons to be careful this offseason. At the age of 30, he’s very quietly a big contract extension candidate for the Chargers as he enters 2026 on the final year of his deal, which is a $24.6 million cap charge.

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