As tension between NFL players and flag football players mounts ahead of flag football’s debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, former U.S. women’s national team soccer star Megan Rapinoe added fuel to the dispute.
Rapinoe made it clear during the “A Touch More” podcast with Sue Bird there is one former NFL player she believes deserves a spot on America’s roster — former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers during a game against the Miami Dolphins Nov. 27, 2016, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. (Ron Elkman/Sports Imagery/Getty Images)
“Oh God, he would be so good in flag football. I mean he would be so good in the NFL, let’s just be clear about that. He is still being blackballed from the NFL right now,” Rapinoe said. “I think it would be awesome.
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“I would love to see Colin be able to represent America in an Olympics. I think that would be an unbelievably special moment.
“He’s my flag bearer. I think that would be really incredible to have that representation of America also be front and center at an Olympics. That would be really cool.”
Megan Rapinoe of the United States lines up before a women’s soccer Group G match against Australia during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Kashima Stadium July 27, 2021, in Kashima, Japan. (Hector Vivas/FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Kaepernick, who last played in the NFL in 2016, told Sky Sports this month that “hopefully” he’ll be in LA competing for a gold medal with Team USA.
“We’re gonna work on some things, see if we can make it in there, but would love to be out there,” he said.
But Kaepernick would be competing against more than just the league’s best.
With NFL players interested in playing in the Olympics, flag football players have voiced concerns about the process of trying out for a spot on the team.
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Darrell “Housh” Doucette, quarterback of the U.S. national team, said during a recent interview he hopes NFL players will go through the same process to qualify for the team.
“I love the fact that they want to play and that they want to come out and compete. But at the end of the day, we want the same process that we’ve been having to play. We have to try out, and so do they. I don’t want it to be they’re entitled because of their names to be able to just automatically be on the team, and that’s what is sounds like from the flag football world.”
Quarterback Darrell Doucette (7) prepares to hand the ball to wide receiver Derius Davis (4) during the American Flag Football League Ultimate Final July 19, 2018, at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. (Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Doucette argued that the transition from tackle football to flag football isn’t as simple as some may suggest.
“I don’t think they have the time to actually learn this game and be as successful as we have over this period of time,” he added.
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