Football hasn’t exactly gone global, yet. The international games go a great extent to spread American Football to the world. This coming season, there are seven games that are to be held overseas. But other big things are happening at this year’s Spring League Meeting. All 32 franchises have unanimously signed off on a big decision. Allowing our active NFL players to try to bring home the gold in the 2028 Olympics. With this, flag football is going to make its mark on the world. And Vikings WR Justin Jefferson has a lot to do with this.
Justin Jefferson was a big part of the discussions that finally came through at the league meeting on Tuesday. As Jefferson said, “I’m just at a loss of words – Just to think about the chances of playing in the Olympics and getting a gold medal is a dream – That’s something that as a kid I always wanted to be a part of, but football wasn’t global. So now that we’re expanding the game and we’re going more global, it’s pretty cool.” But is it going to be all cool, and a dream come true for Jefferson? NFL analysts have some doubts.
Chris Simms, in conversation with Mike Florio, voiced his concerns, highlighting it could be an ‘embarrassing’ moment for Justin Jefferson. “I worry about the embarrassment. I worry about the injury aspect for the player for sure. – it’s not going to look good if some five-six guy from Japan goes up and steals the ball from Justin Jefferson to win the flag football championship gold medal,” Simms said. Imagine having a stellar career in the NFL only to be upstaged overseas. Simms also added that while Jefferson is all for the idea of playing in the Olympics, everyone might not be on board. “I don’t think there’s going to be as much of a land rush from the actual players that are going to want to play for this as much as people think, or maybe as much as Justin Jefferson showed in his personal exuberance yesterday in the press conference.”
NFL, American Football Herren, USA NFC Wild Card Round-Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams Jan 13, 2025 Glendale, AZ, USA Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson 18 reacts after the NFC wild card game against the Los Angeles Rams at State Farm Stadium. Glendale State Farm Stadium AZ USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMarkxJ.xRebilasx 20250113_mcd_su5_158
But Justin isn’t thinking about all that. He’s thrilled to be a part of this. He talked about his experience playing flag football during the redesigned Pro Bowl Games. As he notably said, “For them to change the rules up and for us to go from a regular game to now [a flag football] game, honestly, it was way more fun – We felt like kids out there just kind of having fun, just being around each other, the best athletes in the league.” And the league seems to be excited, too. As the NFL executive VP of football operations, Troy Vincent has also shared his thoughts. “I think the world finally has an opportunity to see the greatest athletes in the world participate, both men and women.” But will this dream come true personally for Justin Jefferson and the rest of the players?
Olympic dream for the NFL stars?
USA Football CEO Scott Hallenbeck has high hopes for the Olympics, and especially for the NFL players. As per his statement, “We’re fortunate to have a talent pool that already features prominent flag football stars – Including players from the NFL only strengthens our ability to build the best U.S. Men’s National Team possible and achieve our ultimate goal for LA28: to bring home two gold medals in flag football.” Hallenbeck also stated that he will be working with the NFL officials to figure out the best way to bring opportunities to players. If eligible, the NFL players will have to train for two sports with different rules. The timings of the games must also be balanced for the players to give their best performance.
Vikings LB Brian Asamoah II has also spoken on the matter. He highlighted that NFL stars certainly have what it takes to shine in flag football. But there’s a lot of talent in flag football already. “It requires a lot of different abilities that football, in general, doesn’t require, but you definitely have to have speed, elusiveness, and being able to get away from people – It’s a completely different game. You have to really give your respect to the players that have been training for this already and feel like they deserve the opportunity to play. So, how many players from the NFL rosters make it to the Olympics will remain to be seen. And will Justin Jefferson be among the chosen ones, too?
As Jefferson said, since it’s three seasons away, he’ll have to wait to see how that goes. He said, “Getting older, body is going to be different, but that’s definitely always been a dream. – I definitely would look forward to it if it came down to it, but that’s definitely something to ask myself and see what’s right.” So maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to see Jefferson bringing home the gold in 2028. But he better watch out, or else he might just get upstaged when he least expects it.
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