In three years, Los Angeles will temporarily shift from being a tackle football town to a flag football town. One of the local NFL coaches is fully on board with the idea of active players suiting up in red, white, and blue.
“I think it’s great,” Rams coach Sean McVay told reporters on Wednesday. “I think that is so far away from me. Coaching years are dog years, you know that. You hear Justin Jefferson come out and talk about, man, that would be really cool. That’s awesome. Like I think you give guys the opportunity to say, ‘Alright, well what’s your preference on it?’ And I think whatever our guys are . . . there’s going to be the availability for maybe one guy on each team to be able to do that. And if that’s something that players say they want to be able to do, then I think it’s a really cool experience for them to be able to be a part of while also acknowledging that man, there are some other guys that have been doing it. I’m not going to pretend to understand the nuances tactically and what that game entails, but I think it’s good. I think it’s great.”
McVay’s first point is the most important. It’s three years away. There are three entire football seasons to play before the time comes to put NFL players on the flag football field. Most of the current NFL head coaches may not even be in their jobs by then.
And many of the current NFL players won’t be playing in the NFL. Including Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was separately asked on Wednesday whether he’d be interested in representing the country.
“Sure,” Stafford said. “I mean, nobody’s going to want me to, but yeah, sure. It’d be fun. I’ll coach.”
The coaching issue continues to be one of the most fascinating questions about flag football featuring active NFL players. Will pro players respond to flag football coaches of whom they’ve never before heard? Or will it require an experienced and respected pro football coach who gets the flag football rule book, comes up with the best strategy for winning, and puts together a plan for the United States to deliver the goal that many already presume we’ll win, easily.
