Athletes will have it drummed into them that there are no shortcuts to Olympic glory. But what about those sports hoping for a chance to take their seat at the Games?
Before you know it, NFL training camps will be abuzz with the pop of pads. But the future of the game has no pads at all. Or at least that’s what Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, told the Associated Press this week, not only suggesting that flag football stands out as the model for the sport’s next steps but revealing the NFL is working toward making flag football an Olympic sport as soon as 2028.
Here’s what Vincent told The Associated Press:
“When we talk about the future of the game of football, it is, no question, flag. When I’ve been asked over the last 24 months, in particular, what does the next 100 years look like when you look at football, not professional football, it’s flag.”
Troy Vincent: NFL’s goal is to make flag football an Olympic sport. https://t.co/YCgdfzlASs
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) July 7, 2022
Vincent’s choice to single out “professional football,” of course, signifies that the NFL won’t be ditching contact anytime soon. But flag football ultimately encourages more participation and, subsequently, international interest because of its emphasis on other athletic traits, he told the AP.
Here’s what he said:
“You watch these young ladies and men play in other countries. It’s a transitional sport. It’s a cross-functional sport. The best flag players come from soccer, lacrosse, cricket because these are men and women who have tremendous agility. It’s a fast-paced game played in space. You don’t have to play it for years and years. You can develop. You can transfer those skills that you learned in soccer, lacrosse, cricket to flag football.”
However, Judging from the reaction on Twitter, it could be difficult to fill stadiums with people willing to watch men and women play non-contact football.
“Rather watch Ultimate Frisbee,” tweeted Hanlon’s Razor.
“The NFL’s goal is to make the NFL flag football,” tweeted Buckshot221.
“This is a joke, right?” tweeted JerBear.
The Daily Wire pointed out:
Apparently, it is not a joke. While Vincent is not talking about replacing gridiron gladiators with cloth-snatching sissies just yet, the league is known to be worried about future lawsuits from long-term brain injuries. Flag football would reduce the number of concussions suffered on the field to nearly zero.
But mostly, Vincent seems to believe the safer version of the game is a better bet to attract new fans around the world.
“It’s the inclusion and the true motto of ‘football for all,’” Vincent said. “There is a place in flag football for all.”
Sources: DailyWire, Associated Press