Ravens' Lamar Jackson Kills Olympic Dreams

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson now has a clear path to play flag football at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, but whether or not he actually chooses to play is a different question entirely.

On Tuesday, NFL owners unanimously voted in favor of a proposal to allow players to participate in the inaugural flag football competition three years from now. The proposal currently allows for just one player from each NFL team to participate, plus each team's designated international player, but it's still an exciting development to get more eyes on the event.

When the idea of Olympic flag football started gaining steam last year, Jackson didn't seem to have much interest in suiting up for Team USA.

"I doubt it. I'm a professional NFL player. So I'm just going to stay over here and let those guys have fun," Jackson said on the Ravens' "The Lounge" podcast in August.

That said, Jackson agreed that Team USA would win gold if he were to play.

"No doubt about it, it would go down," Jackson said. "But I salute those guys because they're performing for our country at the end of the day."

It seems like players around the league are split on playing at the Olympics. Some, such as Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, share Jackson's reservations.

"That's the decision I'll definitely have to weigh in a little bit," Jefferson told ESPN. "It's three years from now, it's three whole seasons that I'm going to have to go through. Of course, getting older, body is going to be different, but that's definitely always been a dream. It's always been something I always wanted to do, compete for your country versus all of the other countries in the rest of the world."

However, others believe it could be the opportunity of a lifetime, such as New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs.

"It's a perfect opportunity to get everybody playing one sport, representing America as a whole, and hopefully get a gold medal," Diggs told ESPN.

Make sure you bookmark Baltimore Ravens On SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!