NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was caught off guard at Wednesday’s league meetings by a question about transgender athletes in women’s flag football.
Asked by Outkick.com’s Armando Salguero if the NFL-sponsored flag football events will permit transgender athletes to compete in the girls and women’s divisions, Goodell admitted it wasn’t a dilemma currently being considered by the league.
‘Armando, it’s something we haven’t discussed at this point in time,’ Goodell said at Wednesday’s press conference in Manhattan. ‘So, I don’t have an answer on that for you. We haven’t even discussed that.’
The NFL has helped launch thousands of youth flag football leagues across the US and Canada while promoting the sport as a safer, more inclusive alternative to the classic gridiron game. In total, around 767,000 athletes participate in NFL Flag.
Flag football will debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics, but the NFL has plans to launch men’s and women’s professional flag leagues before the international competition begins in Los Angeles.
The sport has already replaced tackle football in the league’s All-Star showcase, the Pro Bowl. What’s more, Goodell announced earlier Wednesday that the Pro Bowl flag football game would be pushed back from Sunday to Tuesday ahead of Super Bowl LX. This way, the league will have a bigger audience to promote the game in February with an eye towards its Olympic debut two years later.
Quarterback Diana Flores of team Gunna during the NFL Flag Football Showdown
Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks to reporters during the NFL owners meeting
And yes, NFL players will be permitted to compete in Olympic flag football.
‘We’ve had a tremendous amount of interest since we announced that we were exploring the pro league earlier this year,’ Stephanie Kwok, the NFL’s vice president and head of NFL Flag said on Tuesday. ‘I think that really just shows the strong belief in, and the demand for, a professional flag league for both women and men.
‘So our focus continues to be on selecting the strongest operating partner with a league launch ahead of the 2028 Olympics, and we expect to have additional news about the league operations and launch in the near future.’
The NCAA is also considering adding flag football ahead of a January vote on the subject.
