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Yesterday, the NFL’s 32 team owners voted unanimously to give their players the green light to compete in the Olympic debut of flag football in 2028.
There’s still work to do before we potentially see NFL stars on the smaller gridiron in Los Angeles. The league must reach deals with the NFL Players’ Association, the International Olympic Committee and various national governing bodies on stuff like insurance policies for injuries, marketing rights and how and when teams will be picked. But the NFL has been pushing for this moment for years, including converting its annual Pro Bowl game to a flag format, so expect those deals to get done.
With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to pick a flag football Dream Team for the United States, home to more than 95 per cent of the NFL’s players, and Canada, the top non-U.S. producer of NFLers and home of the world’s second-best pro football league in the CFL.
A few things to know before we get to the teams:
* Qualification for the men’s and women’s flag football events at the 2028 Olympics has not yet taken place. Each tournament will include six teams, with 10 players on each team. Under the NFL’s proposal, a maximum of one player per NFL team is allowed on each national team.
* The U.S., Canada and other countries already have national flag football teams that compete in the world championships and other international tournaments. These athletes specialize in flag football, and some have expressed resentment over NFL stars potentially taking away their chance to play in the Olympics. Flag football involves different skills than tackle football, so it’s possible that some of the current flag players could hold onto their spots. But for the purposes of today’s exercise, I’m only considering NFL and CFL players for my Dream Teams.
* The CFL and its players’ union haven’t yet reached a decision on participating in the Olympics. It’s trickier for them because the Olympics take place during their season, whereas NFLers would only miss a few days of training camp at most. But, for today, we’re assuming CFL players will be available to represent Canada.
* There are different versions of flag football, but the Olympics will follow the international standard of 5-on-5, with 10 players on each roster. For today, we’ll assume no one is playing on both sides of the ball (sorry, Travis Hunter).
* Because there’s no tackling or blocking in flag football, the physical profile of the players at the highest levels tends to be more uniform. Speed and agility are obviously still essential, but size and strength is less important, so linemen and linebackers will have a tough time making these teams. There’s a centre who snaps the ball to the quarterback, but he immediately becomes a pass-catcher, so heavy guys need not apply for even that job. The defence designates one pass rusher on each player, but with no big blockers to outmuscle, that role will probably go to a smaller, quicker guy too.
* The typical positions on offence for 5-on-5 flag are quarterback, centre and three wide receivers/running backs. On defence, two defensive backs and two safeties are joined by a pass rusher who lines up seven yards from the line of scrimmage and can immediately go after the quarterback for a sack. The DBs line up wide and closer to the line of scrimmage to defend the short pass or outside run. The safeties are behind them and closer to the middle of the field, where they pick up receivers who get open deep or grab the flags of runners who get past the DBs and pass rusher.
Alright, let’s get to the Dream Teams!
UNITED STATES
Offence
QB: Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City)
Centre: Brock Bowers (Las Vegas Raiders)
WR/Back: Justin Jefferson (Minnesota Vikings)
WR/Back: Ja’Marr Chase (Cincinnati Bengals)
WR/Back: De’Von Achane (Miami Dolphins)
Mahomes is a no-brainer. The three-time Super Bowl MVP is the best quarterback in the world and no one is better at extending plays to complete a pass. That’s an essential skill in flag, where the unblocked rusher is bearing down on you every play.
Jefferson and Chase are easy picks too. The planet’s top two receivers are both young, explosive and basically uncoverable at all levels of the field. Chase won the pass-catching triple crown last season, leading the NFL in receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708) and receiving touchdowns (17), while Jefferson ranked in the top six in all of those categories with journeyman Sam Darnold as his QB. Plus, he’s an NFL flag ambassador who says he’s dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal since he was a kid.
Bowers gets the nod at centre after finishing third in the league in catches (112) and tied for eighth in receiving yards (1,194) as a rookie last season. Like I said, there’s no blocking involved in the centre position, but I think it would be good to have a big, athletic pass-catcher out there, especially for short-yardage situations, and the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Bowers fits the bill.
The Achane pick is a little outside the box. A lot of people will prefer to fill that spot with another great receiver like Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb or Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown. And if you want a back, how do you pass on 2,000-yard rusher Saquon Barkley or Detroit’s electric Jahmyr Gibbs? All great choices, but for flag football I want speed and versatility over tackle-breaking ability. The smaller Achane is one of the NFL’s fastest players, and he led all backs in catches and receiving yards last season.
Defence
Pass rusher: Fred Warner (San Francisco 49ers)
DB: Patrick Surtain II (Denver Broncos)
DB: Derek Stingley Jr. (Houston Texans)
Safety: Kyle Hamilton (Baltimore Ravens)
Safety: Christian Gonzalez (New England Patriots)
I know I said we don’t need linebackers, but I’m making an exception for Warner, the incredibly rangy 6-foot-3, 230-pound heart and soul of the 49ers’ defence. He has the tools and the smarts to pivot to covering a big pass catcher like Bowers if he’s not getting in the quarterback’s face.
Surtain won Defensive Player of the Year last season, becoming just the third cornerback to win the award this century. Stingley, also a cornerback, joined Surtain on the All-Pro first team, along with the versatile Hamilton at safety. Hamilton’s teammate Marlon Humphrey would have been a good choice to move from corner to safety for the flag team, but the one-player-per-team rule sends us to Gonzalez, the very impressive young corner for the Patriots.
CANADA
Offence
QB: Nathan Rourke (B.C. Lions)
Centre: Josh Palmer (Buffalo Bills)
WR/Back: Chuba Hubbard (Carolina Panthers)
WR/Back: Chase Brown (Cincinnati Bengals)
WR/Back: John Metchie III (Houston Texans)
Rourke has never thrown a pass in the NFL, but he’s the best quarterback talent we’ve got after bouncing around to four different NFL teams in 2023 and 2024 following his CFL Most Outstanding Canadian award in ’22. Rourke returned to the Lions last year, while his younger brother Kurtis was picked in the seventh round by San Francisco in last month’s NFL draft after a strong year at Indiana University.
I’m giving two spots to running backs here because Canada has two really good ones. Hubbard and Brown are both coming off breakthrough years, scoring 11 touchdowns apiece. Brown was the more explosive pass catcher, averaging 6.7 yards per catch with four TDs through the air, so he’d have the bigger role on my team.
Metchie has struggled to find his footing as a pro after being diagnosed with leukemia in 2022, costing him his rookie season, but he put up big numbers in college with powerhouse Alabama. Palmer reached 600 yards just once in his first four seasons with the Chargers, but the Bills must see something in him because they signed him to a three-year, $29-million US contract in March. He’s the bigger guy, so I’m putting him at centre.
Defence
Pass rusher: Brady Oliveira (Winnipeg Blue Bombers)
DB: Benjamin St-Juste (Los Angeles Chargers)
DB: Tyrell Ford (Edmonton Elks)
Safety: Jevon Holland (New York Giants)
Safety: Sydney Brown (Philadelphia Eagles)
Oliveira is a running back, but I’m doing some creative roster management here by finding a spot for the reigning CFL Most Outstanding Player. And, if Hubbard or Chase Brown goes down or needs a breather, Oliveira can slide over to offence.
Holland is one of the better safeties in the NFL. After four strong seasons with Miami that included a 99-yard pick-six, he commanded a three-year, $45M contract from the Giants. Brown, who is Chase Brown’s identical twin brother, helped the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl championship last season.
St-Juste, a cornerback, just signed with the Chargers after spending his first four years with Washington. Ford, also a corner, was selected to the All-CFL team last year after snagging seven interceptions for Winnipeg.