When flag football debuts, as expected, in the 2028 Olympics, current NFL players likely won’t be part of the competition. Former NFL players will be fair game.
Enter Rob Gronkowski. The future Hall of Fame tight end recently told TMZ.com that he wants to play Olympic flag football.
“Hopefully there’s no tryouts and they just accept me,” Gronkowski said. “But I’m in. I’m going for that if there is flag football in the Olympics in 2028.”
Gronk would be 39 in 2028. He last played in the NFL in 2021.
But flag football is a far different animal. The contact isn’t nearly the same as tackle football. The wear and tear isn’t the same. And the reward will be not the same, either.
For a guy with multiple Super Bowl rings, why not try to add a gold medal to the collection?
Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill also has expressed interest in Olympic flag football, five years from now.
The USOC will have some interesting decisions to make, when the time comes. Which players better serve the goal of winning gold? Older players with high-level NFL experience? Or younger (faster) players who aren’t quite up to snuff for NFL rosters?
It likely will be a combination of the two. Given that either approach likely will deliver the top spot on the podium, why not embrace former stars? And if Gronk is in, maybe Tom Brady (who would be 51 at the time) will volunteer for the cause, too.