While NFL teams are preparing for the start of another new season, some of the league's most prominent players still have the Olympics on their minds. Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons belongs to that group, with the three-time All-Pro declaring his interest in playing for the United States' flag football team in 2028.
In past weeks, since the closing ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, attention has shifted to the 2028 Olympic Games, which will be held in Los Angeles. As part of the games, flag football will make its Olympic debut, which has led several current NFL players to make their pitch to join Team USA and try to win a gold medal.
Debate has circled around some of the best and most dynamic offensive players in the NFL, including Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, but Parsons apparently wants to anchor Team USA's defense in flag football four years from now.
“I’m not saying I could come in and start right now, but I’m saying I could probably make the team — for sure,” Parson said on his ‘The Edge' podcast. “I’m going to come out and compete, I’m going to try to make that team. If they said, ‘Micah, come try out for the USA team,' I will be there, there’s no doubt about it. I got to win me a gold medal to rep the country. I’m going to go win a gold medal, no doubt about it.”
Micah Parsons says winning Olympic gold medal would make ‘life complete'
With football being primarily an American sport, it has never been included in the Olympics, giving NFL players like Micah Parsons no chance to represent their country on the international stage like NBA players in the Olympics or MLB players in the World Baseball Classic.
However, with flag football being added to the 2028 Olympics, there appears to be considerable interest from the NFL elite to take part in 2028. Parsons, in particular, said that an Olympic gold medal would go a long way toward accomplishing his career goals.
“I hope that I get into the LA Olympics,” Parsons said. “I hope I win gold, but I think if I win a gold medal, my life might be complete. Like no bull, my life would be completely complete. I would be so happy with my life, I could ride off into the sunset. No bull, I think a Super Bowl and a gold medal, if I could win those two things in the next four years, I don’t think anyone could ever talk to me at that point.”
A catch — in addition to the uncertainty around whether NFL owners would allow the players to participate — is that some on the current Team USA flag football team will not allow their spots to be taken by NFL players so easily.
Quarterback Darrell Doucette, in particular, said that he was better than Patrick Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl MVP, because of his “IQ” of flag football.
“When it comes to flag football, I feel like I know more than him.”
There are certainly other players who feel the same way, which should make the Team USA roster selection process an interesting one to watch.
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