Rob Gronkowski open to playing flag football in 2028 Olympics
Rob Gronkowski just may, in fact, have one more football game left in him. There’s just one catch, and a crucial one at that: He won’t have to run across the middle of the field in fear of getting hit.
The 34-year-old former tight end, who retired from the NFL after the 2021 season, recently told TMZ he wants to play flag football in the Olympics.
“Hopefully there’s no tryouts and they just accept me,” Gronkowski said. “But I’m in. I’m going for that if there is flag football in the Olympics in 2028.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is considering adding flag football, as well as five other sports to the program for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. According to the Associated Press, the IOC will vote on the proposal at meetings in Mumbai, India, later this week. The other sports under consideration are baseball, softball, lacrosse, cricket and squash.
By the time the 2028 Summer Olympics roll around, Gronkowski will be 39 years old. He certainly passes the criteria based on his 11-year NFL career. Between his time with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Gronkowski hauled in 621 receptions for 9,286 yards and 92 touchdowns.
Perhaps he and Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill, who expressed interest in playing, could team together, creating one of the most lethal duos flag football has most certainly ever seen.
“Calling all @NFL guys let’s bring one home,” Hill wrote on X.
Flag football on the table for 2028 Summer Olympics
Should the IOC officially vote to add the sports, the 2028 Olympics would be the first to perhaps feature players from the NFL. Flag football would be 5-on-5 and played on a 50-yard field with no offensive or defensive linemen.
With the NFL already dominating the sports scene in the U.S., a chance to have a presence on the Olympic stage could finally make it visible to a global audience.
“The NFL is such a uniquely American sport and this is their big, global try,” said Dan Durbin, director of the Institute of Sports, Media and Society at USC. “The NFL dominates in the U.S. You get 10 miles into the Atlantic or Pacific and it disappears. This gives it a chance to make it visible to a global audience.”
The NFL has made a push in recent years to expand globally, regularly hosting multiple games in London each season. In 2022, the NFL hosted its first game in Munich, Germany, an NFC contest between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks.