NFL Approves Active Player Participation in LA28 Olympics

The U.S. Olympic flag football Dream Team can now be assembled.

NFL owners unanimously approved a provision Tuesday to allow active players to participate in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, a highly anticipated move that will bring pro football stars into international competition. The decision, actively discussed for nearly two years, arrived after the development of a leaguewide insurance plan to protect players participating in the Olympics.

Additionally, the approval carried a series of other provisions, including the limit of one player per NFL team on each national team participating, and salary cap credits for any player who is injured at the Olympics. 

In addition to the safety and injury concerns, some owners, such as the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones, previously expressed worries about the late July timing of the 2028 Olympics and preparation for the NFL season that year.

Long before the owners’ vote at the league’s spring meeting in Minnesota, many individual stars publicly mentioned their interest in playing in the Olympics, meaning that Team USA will not have any problem fielding a team full of stars. 

The NFL players’ participation in the Olympics is fundamentally intertwined with the league’s interest in advancing grassroots play of the sport, as well as developing professional flag leagues for both men and women. That latter consideration has included some of the biggest names in sports.

“I know first-hand that the inclusion of flag football in the Olympics has sparked a tremendous amount of excitement among NFL players interested in the chance to compete for their country on the world stage. We are thrilled that they will now have that chance,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.

Flag football formally became part of the program for the Los Angeles Games in 2023. The move, at last, provided the beginning of a path for NFL players to be part of the Olympics. NBA and NHL players have been Olympic competitors for decades. Major League Baseball operates its own World Baseball Classic in partnership with the MLB Players Association, and it also has had ongoing dialogue with LA28 organizers about its players participating there.