Flag Football:
The Newest Olympic Sport

By Jack B., Oliver F., and Harry H.
Published May 10, 2024

Flag football is coming to the Olympics in 2028! There are many sports in the Olympics like hockey, basketball, track, and more but they have never had any type of American football in the olympics. Until now. Thomas Bach, the head of the Olympics, has shown that flag football will come to the Olympics in 2028. NFL stars like Tyreek Hill and more NFL stars are joining. 

Flag football is coming to the Olympics as a way to improve global popularity. Many NFL players really like the idea that it is going to be worldwide and they will be able to compete with other countries and skill levels. There are many countries that are probably really good at football, but they don't have a way to show how good they are. With the Olympics having flag football, they will now be able to show their talent.

In flag football there are 5 people on the field. On offense there is 1 quarterback, 1 center, 2 receivers, and 1 tight end. On defense, there are 2 cornerbacks, 2 safeties, and one middle linebacker. The middle linebacker can blitz from 7 yards back if they  want; these are much different from the NFL rules but

 they will be able to show off their talents and their skills. A lot of football players are very good and they will be able to show that in this light contact sport.

Many people and athletes around the world really want to play football but there is a really big chance for injuries and getting hurt. With flag football, there is a very small chance of getting hurt. The games will move much faster and will prevent useless time. This gives other athletes who don’t play many contact sports an opportunity to play a sport in the olympics in 2028. This will let many people from other countries play this game. Hopefully this increases the popularity of football.

The international olympic committee chose flag football instead of tackle football for many reasons. To start it off, they didn’t want anyone getting hurt. They also want it to be more fair for other countries because they don’t have an NFL. It would be unfair if it was tackle football because America would have more experience.

Many people assume that the U.S. will be very good because of the skill in the NFL but many countries probably have good football players and athletes that we don’t know about. Flag Football in the Olympics will show other peoples and countries skills. For many countries it will probably be new, so they will have to learn the skill and work hard to have a chance at winning a medal.