{"id":824243,"date":"2026-03-21T01:44:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T01:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/824243\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T01:44:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T01:44:29","slug":"u-s-flag-footballs-exhibition-vs-nfl-players-carries-big-olympic-implications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/824243\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. flag football\u2019s exhibition vs. NFL players carries big Olympic implications"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 Sean Payton and Kyle Shanahan spent a lot of time on the phone the past month, wondering exactly what they\u2019d gotten themselves into.<\/p>\n

The Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers coaches agreed to oversee teams for the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. Once their NFL playoff runs were over, they decompressed, then turned their attention to the side project.<\/p>\n

Payton and Shanahan quickly realized this wouldn\u2019t be a minor-league diversion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a period when I don\u2019t know that we were getting anything done in free agency with the Broncos,\u201d Payton said, \u201cbut we were figuring out this five-on-five thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casual football fans might scoff at the event, an exhibition featuring two squads of NFL stars and Team USA in a round-robin tournament Saturday at BMO Stadium. Fox Sports will televise. But for those who follow the sport, which will also be played here at the 2028 Olympics, the competition will go a long way to enlightening the debate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Are the pros truly better than the Joes?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe skill sets are similar,\u201d event co-promoter and participant Tom Brady said Friday at a news conference. \u201cThe rules are quite a bit different. But really, it will be a great gauge for all these players and the players that will be participating in L.A. 2028 to see where we\u2019re at and what we need to do in the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event began as a showcase in Saudi Arabia with current and former NFL players. Two weeks ago, organizers moved the event to BMO Stadium amid travel advisories related to the current conflict in the Middle East. The switch allowed for Team USA\u2019s inclusion.<\/p>\n

From the moment NFL owners approved player participation in the Olympics,<\/a> fans and media have assembled Dream Team rosters loaded with star power and hardware while ignoring those who\u2019ve made Team USA an unbeatable juggernaut. The Americans haven\u2019t lost an International Federation of American Football (IFAF) tournament since 2018, winning by an average score of 50-17.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have everything to prove,\u201d former NFL quarterback, flag football advocate and event co-commissioner Drew Brees said. \u201cWhen it was first announced the 2028 Olympics were going to have five-(on)-five flag football, immediately everybody started talking about Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill. \u2018Who are the NFL players that should represent Team USA and create the Dream Team for flag football?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m sure all those (Team USA) guys were, like, \u2018Wait a minute, now. We\u2019re the best in the world at what we do, and nobody\u2019s going to come take this from us.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/p>\n

\n Coach Sean Payton (left) and quarterbacks Jalen Hurts (center) and Tom Brady will be among the NFLers trying to take down the U.S. flag players. (Monica Schipper \/ Getty Images for OBB Media \u2013 FANATICS STUDIOS)<\/p>\n

The pros will have a decisive edge in athleticism and size. After co-captains for the Founders (Brady and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts) and Wildcats (Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow) teams drafted their rosters Wednesday night at the Waldorf Astoria, Team USA was welcomed on stage for a photo op. A din of surprised chatter and stifled laughter broke out among the audience upon seeing the side-by-side disparity.<\/p>\n

Team USA is expected by many to get the last laugh. Fanatics\u2019 own sportsbook opened the amateurs as 6-point favorites against either pro squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got a lot of speed over there, got the IQ of the game,\u201d Hurts said. \u201cWe\u2019re still trying to learn it, still trying to get that down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olympic flag football is played on a 50-by-25-yard field. Because there will be four games, they will consist of 15-minute halves \u2014 instead of the usual 20 minutes \u2014 with a running clock.<\/p>\n

Not only is this not tackle football, but contact is virtually prohibited. Saquon Barkley and Rob Gronkowski are hardwired to stiff-arm and body defenders. That\u2019s illegal. So is \u201cflag guarding,\u201d which can be construed from regular running form. No blocks. No leaping over defenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a different game,\u201d Brees said. \u201cThese guys have continuity. These guys have chemistry. I think that\u2019s definitely an advantage in this game. When you just look at the size difference, the smaller, shiftier guys, just because you\u2019re there doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re getting him down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Darrell<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe want them to be at their best because we want to show it\u2019s a different game,\u201d says U.S. team quarterback Darrell \u201cHoush\u201d Doucette. (Kevin C. Cox \/ Getty Images for OBB Media \u2013 FANATICS STUDIOS)<\/p>\n

Only seven defensive players are on the Founders\u2019 and Wildcats\u2019 rosters combined, whereas Team USA has athletes who specialize on each side of the ball.<\/p>\n

Flag pulling is critically important and considered a frustrating skill to master. NFL players, especially bulkier dudes such as retired linebacker Luke Kuechly, will be at a distinct disadvantage trying to stop a skittering ball carrier who trained for hours to flummox defenders.<\/p>\n

IFAF officials have been asked to call the games Saturday according to the flag rulebook that will be used in the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can talk about the rules, read the rules,\u201d Payton said. \u201cBut once all that film came in \u2014 I think I watched 17 games \u2014 you get a better appreciation of the nuances and just the art of grabbing a flag.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt goes back to when you were a kid and one-hand touch. You\u2019re getting skinny. You\u2019re turning your hips. Anything to not get touched is essentially what you\u2019re trying to do with these flags. Then you start to see multiple quarterbacks, then who\u2019s the designated rusher?\u201d<\/p>\n

But old NFL norms don\u2019t fade swiftly. At the Fanatics draft, running backs Ashton Jeanty and Barkley were the first two picks. Gronkowski was fourth.<\/p>\n

That wouldn\u2019t have been the case if Payton and Shanahan were the ones drafting. Antoine Winfield Jr., the 5-foot-9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety, was the player Payton highlighted from Thursday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be going one-on-one with 10 people out there on a tennis court,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cI really don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

One variable that could impact the tournament significantly is ill-timed showmanship.<\/p>\n

Team USA\u2019s roster is intact and untouched, while the pro rosters include influencer Logan Paul, boxer Terence Crawford and YouTube creator iShowSpeed. Paul tried to manufacture drama Wednesday night by challenging Brady and Gronkowski to fights. Paul could derail an important possession with theatrics if a burr gets under his saddle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want them to be at their best because we want to show it\u2019s a different game,\u201d said Team USA quarterback Darrell \u201cHoush\u201d Doucette, \u201cand if they\u2019re not giving 100, we can\u2019t truly display what flag football is compared to NFL football. We know it\u2019s going to take time for them to develop.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all here to show the world what flag football is all about and to get ready for the 2028 Olympics. These guys are putting on this event for us, so we\u2019re giving it our all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team USA has established the national program as the international standard. Although many on the team welcome the competition and a chance to rub elbows with NFL stars, they still want to represent their country and have a chance to earn Olympic gold in the sport they\u2019ve dominated.<\/p>\n

Saturday offers a chance they\u2019ve been waiting for.<\/p>\n

Asked what he\u2019d tell casual football fans who might be tuning into flag football Saturday for the first time, Doucette smiled like someone who has never lost a game since he became the national team\u2019s quarterback five years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t underestimate the flag guys you don\u2019t know,\u201d Doucette said. \u201cDon\u2019t just go off the names. Those guys weren\u2019t who they were before they made it to certain levels. We all were at the same point as little kids, growing up, playing football.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome at it with an open mind and be positive about the game because we\u2019re here to showcase what five-on-five flag football is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 Sean Payton and Kyle Shanahan spent a lot of time on the phone the past…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,6,8259],"class_list":["post-824243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-olympics"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116264638752563078","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}