NFL players can compete in flag football. Have others been to the Olympics?

NFL players could participate in the 2028 Summer Olympics after team owners approved their status to try out for flag football at league meetings in Minneapolis this week. But it won’t be the first time NFL athletes have seen the worldwide stage.

A number of former NFL players have competed in previous Olympics. The majority competed in track and field events, often before their NFL careers took shape.

Flag football will be new to the Olympics at the 2028 Games, hosted in Los Angeles. Per the resolution approved Tuesday, one player per NFL roster can try out for a given country’s Olympic team.

Here is a list of a few notable Olympians who were also NFL players:

Nate Ebner, rugby sevens, 2016 Rio de Janeiro

Ebner is rare in that he competed in the Olympics while being an active NFL player. He played rugby in the USA team circuit throughout high school and his first two years of college. As a junior, Ebner walked on to the Ohio State football team, despite no high school football experience, and earned a scholarship for his senior year as a standout special-teams player. The New England Patriots drafted him in the sixth round of the 2012 draft.

When his four-year rookie deal was up after the 2015 season, Ebner entered contract discussions with his then-coach Bill Belichick, which he detailed on an episode of Julian Edelman’s “Games With Names” podcast in November 2024. In one of those conversations, Ebner brought up his desire to compete with Team USA in the 2016 Olympics, and, somewhat to his surprise, Belichick gave the green light.

“An hour or two later, he calls me up and said, ‘It’s not like you’re going sailing, we’ve got to put something in your contract if something happens to you,’” Ebner remembered.

All was well in Rio — Belichick had the team stop training camp in New England to watch Ebner compete. Ebner and Team USA finished ninth in rugby sevens. Ebner returned for another four seasons with the Patriots as a safety and special teamer before ending his career on a two-season stint with the New York Giants.

He is now a minority owner of the New England Free Jacks of Major League Rugby.

Marquise Goodwin, long jump, 2012 London

Goodwin’s career-best 8.33-meter long jump at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials would have been good enough for the gold that summer. But he came up short in London to finish in 10th place. He ran a 4.27-second 40-yard dash at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine (now tied for eighth all-time) and was selected by Buffalo in the third round that year. He posted career highs of 962 receiving yards on 56 catches in 2017 with San Francisco and played his last NFL season in 2023 with Cleveland.

Michael Bates, sprinter, 1992 Barcelona

A football player and track athlete at the University of Arizona, Bates did not enroll in school in 1991 to prepare for the Olympics. He edged out gold medalist Carl Lewis for the final qualifying spot in the 200-meter dash at the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials and won the bronze at the Barcelona Games. He was drafted in the sixth round by the Seattle Seahawks in the 1992 draft, but didn’t sign a contract with the team until the following season. He went on to become a five-time Pro Bowler with the Carolina Panthers.

Herschel Walker, bobsled, 1992 Albertville

Walker was a star running back at Georgia, winning the Heisman Trophy during his junior season in 1982. He started his professional career in the USFL before being drafted in the fifth round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. Between stints with the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles, Walker was recruited to be a pusher for Team USA bobsledding. He finished seventh in the two-man competition with teammate Brian Shimer, then returned for his final six NFL seasons.

Michael Carter, shot put, 1984 Los Angeles

Five months was the length of time that separated Carter winning the silver medal in shot put at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and winning a ring with the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX. He won two more Super Bowls and was a three-time Pro Bowler as a nose tackle for the 49ers from 1984 to 1992.

Ron Brown and Sam Graddy, relay, 1984 Los Angeles

Teammates on the track and the gridiron. Brown and Graddy won the 4×100-meter relay for Team USA with a record-setting 37.83-second time at the 1984 Olympics. The duo later overlapped in their NFL careers with the Los Angeles Raiders. “To have the opportunity to circle back and end up playing with Willie … was a special time,” Graddy told Raiders.com.

Willie Gault, sprinter, 1980 Moscow

Gault qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 1980 in the 4×100-meter relay and 100-meter sprint, but the U.S. boycotted the games in Moscow. The Chicago Bears selected Gault 18th in the 1983 draft, and during their 1985 Super Bowl run, Gault caught 33 passes for a team-high 704 yards to go with a career-high 577 kick return yards. He also made the 1988 U.S. bobsled team as an alternate while on the Los Angeles Raiders.

Bob Hayes, sprinter, 1964 Tokyo

Hayes won gold medals in the 100-meter dash and 4×100-meter relay in 1964. The next year, he began his NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys, where he was a Pro Bowler in each of his first three seasons (1965-67) and led the league in receiving touchdowns in his first two. When the Cowboys won Super Bowl VI, Hayes became the first athlete to win a Super Bowl ring and a gold medal in their career.

Henry Carr, 1964 Tokyo

Carr won gold in the 200-meter sprint and 4×400-meter relay in 1964. He was selected by the New York Giants in the 1965 NFL Draft and played three seasons as a safety and cornerback.

Glenn Davis, sprinter, 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Rome

Davis won three gold medals across two Olympic appearances (two in the 400-meter hurdles and one as part of Team USA’s 4×400-meter relay). After his track career, he played wide receiver for the Detroit Lions in 1960 and 1961, where he had 10 catches for 132 yards in his two years. He is a member of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

Milt Campbell, decathlon, 1952 Helsinki, 1956 Melbourne

Campbell won a silver medal in the decathlon at just 18 years old. He went on to play football and run track at Indiana before returning to the decathlon event in the 1956 Games, when he won gold. The Cleveland Browns drafted him in the fifth round of the 1956 draft, but he only played one NFL season.

Ollie Matson, sprinter, 1952 Helsinki

Matson won the silver in the 4×400-meter relay and the bronze in the 400-meter sprint months before he began his NFL career with the Chicago Cardinals, where he became Rookie of the Year. He was a six-time Pro Bowler — all with Chicago — and went on to play for the Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles.

Jim Thorpe, decathlon, 1912 Stockholm

It’d be remiss not to mention Thorpe, who won gold in the decathlon and pentathlon in 1912 and also competed in the long jump and high jump. He became the first president of the American Professional Football Association, which became the NFL.

(Top photo of Marquise Goodwin: Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)