The lopsided exhibition badly exposed the pros.<\/p>\n
The only relief: For the most part, they didn\u2019t hurt themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody needs professional arrogance, but you better understand that you need professional humbleness too,\u201d former NFL strength and conditioning coach Joe Kenn said. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole package of things to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n
More disconcerting than humiliation for the NFL, if its players want to compete in flag football at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, is how the excursion could add injury to insult.<\/p>\n
A wake-up call? NFL owners and general managers better have surgeons on call.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be highly concerned with the amount of money that I have invested,\u201d said Kenn, \u201cthat a catastrophic injury could happen with one cleat in the dirt. You watch the way they move, and it\u2019s like that martial art, capoeira, with all the spinning and twisting and moving that almost looks like ballet.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re better off training with a hula hoop than doing agility drills. You have to train your body to swiggle. That\u2019s not the football those guys are used to playing.\u201d<\/p>\n
NFL decision-makers noticed the high-speed contortions.<\/p>\n
Movements that are second nature for trained flag players \u2014 they can drop a knee to within one inch of the grass, duckwalk like Chuck Berry and explode back to their feet \u2014 to keep defenders from yanking their flags can send even the fittest NFL player to injured reserve.<\/p>\n
When coaches gathered in Phoenix last week for the NFL owners\u2019 meetings, flag football concerns were a prominent topic.<\/p>\n
Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson might look sensational in a Team USA uniform, but his new coach doesn\u2019t necessarily like the idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would definitely want to ask Bijan and some people in our building, \u2018Is this in our best interest?\u2019\u201d Kevin Stefanski said. \u201cBecause anytime our guys do anything, I am always a little hesitant. But it\u2019s a great game. It\u2019s a game that we believe in, a game this league is growing.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut certainly anytime our players are doing anything, I\u2019m always a bit nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Sean](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2267741754-scaled.jpeg\")
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\n After coaching in the Fanatics event, Sean Payton (in blue) thinks NFL players are unlikely to end up in the Olympics. (Katelyn Mulcahy \/ Getty Images for OBB Media \u2014 FANATICS STUDIOS)<\/p>\n
On its 25-by-50-yard field, flag football is a ricochet game of sudden, high-speed accelerations and decelerations. The latter causes significant noncontact injuries.<\/p>\n
Torn or sprained knee ligaments, popped Achilles tendons, pulled hamstrings, rolled ankles, strained groins, sports hernias \u2026 that\u2019s merely below-the-waist angst in a sport where being out of position by one step can cause an instinctive reach or rotational twist. Retired tight end Rob Gronkowski injured a hamstring on the only pass he caught at the Fanatics Flag Football Classic.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny time you\u2019re starting and stopping, the more bouts you have, the more concern for a catastrophic injury to happen with one slight move,\u201d Kenn said. \u201cOr you lunge at a player the wrong way, or you try to make a juke that you\u2019re not used to, and you\u2019re playing at a level of speed because you\u2019re competing for a gold medal? Things are uncontrollable in a game you\u2019re still a rookie at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without a physical element to compensate in those bang-bang moments \u2014 stiff-arming and shoulder-lowering and diving for a ball carrier\u2019s ankles are prohibited \u2014 tackle football players also could end up on the ground, where shoulders become vulnerable. The Cincinnati Bengals must have held their collective breath while watching the Fanatics event each time quarterback Joe Burrow\u2019s competitive juices sent him onto the grass of a flag football field.<\/p>\n
NFL teams can lose only one player to the Olympics, and the Detroit Lions have candidates for multiple countries. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs is an electric playmaker, and at 5 feet 9, he possesses prototypical flag size. All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown\u2019s mother is German; he speaks fluent German and holds dual citizenship.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a little scary,\u201d Detroit coach Dan Campbell said of the injury risk. \u201cAs a club, we\u2019ve got to think through it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, ultimately, to be honest with you, I don\u2019t lose any sleep thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenn would advise Campbell to worry a little harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t know what owner would sign off,\u201d Kenn said. \u201cIf he does, do you think he\u2019s sleeping good about it? I wouldn\u2019t, and I\u2019m a strength coach.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2267733595-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n With hard contact prohibited, flag football places an emphasis on agility that NFL players typically don\u2019t emphasize in their training. (Kevin C. Cox \/ Getty Images for OBB Media \u2014 FANATICS STUDIOS)<\/p>\n
Kenn, known as \u201cBig House\u201d around the NFL for his gargantuan size, was the Carolina Panthers\u2019 strength coach for nine seasons. Now, he\u2019s a personal trainer who specializes in strong-man competitions but still works with NFL folks.<\/p>\n
Former student and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly reached out to prepare for the Fanatics event, and Kenn acknowledged his guidance was insufficient. Kenn assumed Kuechly, a triathlete and fitness freak, would be OK based on peak conditioning. The biggest warning was about eye discipline and positioning.<\/p>\n
Team USA shook Kuechly out of his shorts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw (Kuechly) get juked, that\u2019s when I know they don\u2019t understand,\u201d Kenn said. \u201cDid you ever see Kuechly get juked like that in a real game? It\u2019s a whole different game of angles and perception. How many future Hall of Famers were out there? And you got embarrassed. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cSupport the s\u2014 out of flag football, but support the people who play it and not try to make it another NFL property. You have enough money.\u201d<\/p>\n
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said last week the league will be included on the 2028 Olympic roster, but Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton predicted no NFL player will make Team USA.<\/p>\n