Jason Kelce's Bold Plan to Determine If NFL Players Should Play Olympic Flag Football

Kelce thinks NFL players and professional flag football players should settle this debate the old-fashioned way.
Kelce has one easy method to determine if NFL players should play flag football in the 2028 Olympics
Kelce has one easy method to determine if NFL players should play flag football in the 2028 Olympics / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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At NFL meetings earlier this month the owners voted to allow players to participate in Olympic flag football, should they desire, when the sport debuts in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. It is an exciting development in theory and also sparked what will be a years-long debate about who, exactly, should be representing the United States in the sport: professional football players or professional flag football players?

In the latest episode of the New Heights podcast, Jason Kelce presented a bold plan to his brother Travis to solve this particular dilemma: one winner-take-all game pitting NFL and flag football players against each other on the flag football field.

"Let's just have a flag football team of NFL players play these guys and see if they can win," the retired Kelce said. "May the best team win... I think a coach that is familiar with flag football should select an NFL-represented team. And that team should just play this flag football team that's been playing for a long time and feels like they are the best at it and they don't need other guys. Then whoever wins (goes to the Olympics)."

It would be great theater if anything. The NFL consists of some of the very best athletes in the world but flag football is not the same as tackle football on numerous levels. They'd surely adjust to the different rules quickly but can they do that while also beating a team filled with lifelong flag football players?

That's the big question. One that would be easily answered utilizing Kelce's solution, which could also be monetized by the participating parties. Think of the ratings!

An intriguing proposal from the longtime Philadelphia Eagles lineman.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.