Patrick Mahomes has expressed an interest in playing for the United States in the 2028 Olympics flag football competition, according to ESPN.
But the timing, overlapping with the start of training camp, has put that in doubt.
The NFL’s owners unanimously approved the league’s players participating in 2028 if they’re chosen.
But Browns GM Andrew Berry doesn’t think we’ll see the superstar quarterbacks partake.
“I’m perhaps a little bit skeptical that maybe we’ll see the Patrick Mahomeses of the world skip [training camp], as much as I’d be very in favor of that, if he’s listening,” Berry told ESPN, then joked. “Skip training camp and do the Olympics.”
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Ravens coach John Harbaugh had a similar feeling about his own superstar quarterback, Lamar Jackson.
“I’m afraid I have a quarterback that’d probably be pretty good at [flag football], so, no, I’m not that excited about that in all honesty,” Harbaugh said. “I believe in America. I want gold medals, but …”
It’s a fair point all around.
In a way, it resembles MLB’s concern every time the World Baseball Classic rolls around. That tournament, held during spring training, is the largest international baseball competition around. But because it happens in March, MLB teams are always concerned about allowing their pitchers to participate and risk early injury.
Injuries shouldn’t be as much of a concern for quarterbacks in Olympic flag football. In their case, the main issue is being away from their NFL team as things ramp up for a new season.
Guys like Mahomes will certainly get what they want. But if what they want is to go to the Olympics, there might be at least a bit of behind-the-scenes pushback from their NFL building.
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