NFL gamers are going to get the prospect to check out for the Olympic flag football workforce, however that doesn’t imply they’re assured a spot on the LA28 roster.
Athletically, they’ll be tremendous. But the transition nonetheless may not be as straightforward and easy as you suppose.
“They are two utterly completely different video games,” mentioned Amber Clark-Robinson. “Yes, you are still taking part in football, however the ability stage is a bit of completely different — simply the attributes that you could have are going to be a bit of bit completely different. You cannot simply throw your physique weight round. You’re going to need to be in management. They’re very nitpicky about how they name contact at IFAF (International Federation of American Football).”
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Clark-Robinson, who’s getting into her third season because the University of Saint Mary ladies’s flag football coach, performed 4 seasons for the Atlanta Steam, a ladies’s sort out football workforce within the Legends Football League.
After the league ceased operations for two years across the COVID-19 pandemic, Clark-Robinson transitioned to flag football. She made the USA Football Women’s Flag Football National Team for the third consecutive yr after tryouts earlier this month.
“I positively get nervous each time (we now have tryouts) simply because the expertise grows and the expertise pool is simply getting larger and larger every year,” she mentioned. “There’s simply a lot robust competitors to go in opposition to.”
Clark-Robinson has harbored Olympic goals all through her life, so she will get why NFL gamers share the identical dream.
“That’s at all times been the purpose — whether or not it was in basketball, observe, volleyball, no matter sport I used to be taking part in,” Clark-Robinson mentioned. “When you are taking part in a sport, that (the Olympics) is the very best of the very best, that is the very best of the competitors in the entire complete world, so that you need to be capable of compete with that.”
She mentioned NFL gamers shouldn’t take the flag recreation for granted. Understanding the variations and nuances from the sort out recreation will be key to a profitable — potential gold-medal-winning — transition.
“If they take it severely they usually examine they usually work at it, I believe they’ve a very good likelihood at making it,” Clark-Robinson mentioned.
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Of course, USA Football already has a dominant nationwide workforce full of Olympic hopefuls, who gained’t merely surrender their dream for NFL gamers.
“I positively suppose the boys are up for it — for the competitors and for the problem,” Clark-Robinson mentioned. “And I believe USA Football has an important plan in place to guarantee that they’re scouting to place the very best of the very best on the workforce.”
Flag football makes its Olympic debut on the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes mentioned he’d love the prospect to play within the Olympics, however Clark-Robinson singled out a distinct MVP QB as her selection amongst NFL stars.
“I do not find out about catching a landing, however I believe I’d be very excited to see Lamar Jackson within the backfield, simply because he is so shifty,” she mentioned. “He already does it quite a bit on NFL gamers. I’d like to see his agility with regards to flag football.”
Ottawa University star Addie Orsborn, who not too long ago helped OU win a fifth straight NAIA flag football championship, additionally performed on the USA Football nationwide workforce final summer season and made the workforce once more in 2025.
The nationwide workforce heads to China in August for the World Games and can play within the IFAF Americas Flag 2025 Continental Championship subsequent September in Panama.
This story was initially printed by Tod Palmer with the Scripps News Group.
