Brian Gutekunst has concerns about NFL players getting injured in Olympic flag football

The NFL is expected to vote today to allow active players to participate in Olympic flag football, but not everyone is on board.

Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst said he’s a supporter of using the Olympics to promote American football around the world. But he doesn’t think it’s a good idea to risk NFL players getting hurt doing it.

“I think overall, [flag football in the Olympics is] a great thing,” Gutekunst told ESPN. “I’d love it if we kept the NFL players out of it.”

Gutekunst cited “the risk” of injury as the reason he’s not enthusiastic about NFL players in the Olympics.

Although the injury rate in flag football isn’t as high as in tackle football, injuries do happen in flag games. And if an NFL star gets a serious injury in an Olympic flag football game, that star’s team is not going to be happy that it lost a key player in a game that might draw international attention to football but means nothing to his team.

Still, NFL owners appear willing to risk it, and many NFL players appear eager to become Olympians. It looks like NFL players will be in the Olympics in the summer of 2028, with their teams crossing their fingers and hoping that they’ll show up to training camp healthy.

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