Picture a warm July night in Los Angeles. The breeze from the Pacific Ocean drifting over the stadium lights at BMO Stadium in downtown Los Angeles. The Olympic flame burns bright in the background at the peristyle of the LA Coliseum up against a Southern California sunset of purple and pink. 22,000 fans rise from their seats to stand and applaud the players of the gold medal game in flag football.
Patrick Mahomes. Justin Jefferson. Ja’Marr Chase. Saquon Barkley. Sauce Gardner. Micah Parsons. Myles Garret. Travis Hunter. Patrick Surtain II.
And somewhere out there in the world, a kid from Norway, Brazil, Serbia, or Sudan is watching football for the first time and thinking the same thought millions of kids in the summer of 1992 had.
That is exactly why NFL players should be allowed — and encouraged — to play flag football in the2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Not because the United States needs them to win.
Because the world needs to see them.
In 1992, the United States sentthe greatest basketball roster ever assembledto the Barcelona Olympics. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley — the roster read like mythology.
Could a team of lesser-known American pros or college players have still won the gold medal that year?
The world didn’t want anonymity.
The Dream Team didn’t just win. They detonated across the global sports landscape like fireworks over the Mediterranean Sea. Kids in Spain, Lithuania, Argentina, Serbia and France watched those games and decided basketball was suddenly going to be their sport.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
