One of the weirder, quietly-very-fun stories of this offseason has been the potentital inclusion of NFL players in the 2028 Summer Olympics. With flag football being added to the slate of games in '28, speculation immediately jumped to whether or not NFL players would be allowed to participate.
RELATED: Packers linked to trade that could spark mayhem across the NFC North
It presents an interesting debate – NFL players are obviously the absolute best football players in the world, and I'd bet they'd be able to figure out the nuances of flag football by, like, the start of the 2nd quarter. On the other hand, there are flag football athletes out there who have worked their entire adult lives to qualify for the Olympics, and it'd be pretty depressing to just have your spot taken by Travis Kelce once all the hard work is done.
And it seems like the NFL is preparing to allow their players to participate, should they want to. The owners will meet this week to vote on a resolution that allows players to do so, and it's widely expected to pass. Not everyone is so stoked about that, though – including Packers' GM Brian Gutekunst, who felt strongly enough about it to provide an on-record quote to ESPN in their story.
It doesn't sound like the Packers are going to be sending guys to the Olympics
Many of the final details remain a long way off and are yet to be negotiated between the NFL, the players' union and Olympic governing bodies. For now, the proposal calls for the six participating nations (which have not yet been identified) to select a maximum of one NFL player each, with Team USA expected to be capped at 10 players. "I think overall, [flag football in the Olympics is] a great thing," Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutenkunst said. "I'd love it if we kept the NFL players out of it."
This hits at the core of the biggest question mark that'll eventually come up when the NFL allows this – just because the league will, does that mean every team will? Is that how it works? Are teams really going to go let their star players play high-speed, high-stakes flag football just a few weeks before training camp? It doesn't sound like the Packers are too keen on the idea. But if the Bears, Lions, and Vikings wanted to send all their stars to a grueling 2-week competition right before the season starts, I bet the Packers could get on board with the idea.