With flag football set to make its debut in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, plenty of NFL players want in. A surprising few, including Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, want out.
Mahomes made his first media appearance of Chiefs' OTAs this week and discussed everything from teammate Travis Kelce's potential last ride to NFL stars being allowed to play flag football in the 2028 Olympic Games.
In roughly three years time, flag football will be included in the Olympics as an official sport and NFL players will be able to participate, which has rightfully elicited plenty of excitement from the NFL community (as well as some competitive barbed comments from flag football players).
When asked for his thoughts on playing flag football in the L.A. Games, Mahomes responded with a candid line that revealed his priorities at this point in his career.
"I'll probably leave that to the younger guys. I'll be a little older by the time that comes around," Mahomes said, via Fox Sports' Henry McKenna.
Come 2028, Mahomes will be just shy of 33 years old and might be more concerned with keeping in playing shape for Kansas City. While an Olympic medal would undoubtedly be a cool addition to his already crowded trophy case, for Mahomes, flag football likely isn't worth possibly getting injured over.
Mahomes last spoke about potentially playing flag football a year ago, and he expressed similar concerns about his age.
"There’s the want to, I just don’t know if my skill set is what is required for flag football," Mahomes said in August 2024. "First, I'm going to be in my 30s at that point, and then it's a lot of scrambling at the QB position. It's not just sitting there throwing."
"I could be a coach," Mahomes added, half-jokingly. "You get a gold medal for being a coach?"
For now, the 2025 NFL season—and winning a fourth ring—appears to be the main focus for the Chiefs quarterback, who's coming off his fifth Super Bowl appearance of his career.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Patrick Mahomes Addresses Possibility of Playing Flag Football in the Olympics.
