FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — It’s still very much an open question which NFL players will suit up for Team USA in the flag football competition at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. But if he makes the team — and if his coach allows it — Bijan Robinson is ready to serve.
“You always want to play for your country,” Robinson said Monday at the Atlanta Falcons’ training camp, “and I would love to show my skill set on that type of stage.”
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With the news last month that NFL owners approved players’ participation in Olympic flag football, speculation has run wild about the possibilities of, say, Derrick Henry crushing a bunch of Frenchmen or Justin Jefferson mossing the entire nation of Japan. Now, as NFL players return to camp from their offseasons, many are embracing the idea of possible Olympic glory.
“It’s going to come down to our schedule and where it lies, and if they even let us go,” Robinson said. “But I would love to play in that game if given the opportunity.”
Several players, including Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford, have already publicly distanced themselves from the idea of playing flag football. Robinson, however, seems prepared to embrace pretty much anything, including his role as an ambassador of the game.
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Over the weekend, he took in the Champions League final in Germany — a precursor to Atlanta’s appearance in the NFL’s International Series later this year — and found time to check out some of his potential competition at a flag football camp.
“They had all these kids in Germany playing flag football, and playing well,” Robinson said. “So that made me happy, to see they are very enthusiastic about it.”
Robinson even got in the mix himself, chasing down some players, and came away impressed with the German players’ speed — “They could be really good in the next two years when the Olympics comes.” When asked if he got juked, he politely smiled, as if to say, Are you serious?
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As a high schooler in Arizona, Robinson grew up playing flag football in the offseason, and he noted how popular the sport is across the country. Which brings up another point in the NFL players-suiting-up debate — there’s already a pretty robust flag football infrastructure in place. Darrell Doucette III, for instance, has led the United States to the past four global flag football championships, and isn’t quite as keen as everyone else that the NFL is thundering onto his turf.
“The flag guys deserve their opportunity. That’s all we want,” Doucette told the Washington Post last month. “We felt like we worked hard to get the sport to where it’s at, and then when the NFL guys spoke about it, it was like we were getting kicked to the side.”
Bijan Robinson has played plenty of flag football, including at the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl Games. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
(Perry Knotts via Getty Images)
Robinson, for his part, takes a diplomatic stance on the matter. “Obviously, there’s a lot of great flag football players out here, and that’s all they play,” he said. “They’re very specific. You have guys that can be running with the football and they can get this low to the ground—” at this he stops and crouches just inches above the practice turf— “just not get touched. No NFL player is doing that, or trying to do that, at least.”
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There’s a whole lot of football — three full seasons, to start — between now and the 2028 Olympics. Robinson may or may not get his wish to join the team, but he sounds interested to watch where the sport goes next, regardless of his involvement.
“I’m just excited to see how much it grows up to that point,” he said. “If (head coach) Raheem (Morris) lets me go, I’ll do it.”
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