Chiefs fans better get used to Patrick Mahomes risking injury at the Olympics

Olympic participation is coming, ready or not.

OLY-2028-USA-FRANCE-LOS ANGELES | ETIENNE LAURENT/GettyImages

The owners of the 32 National Football League franchises are expected to vote on a number of items at their spring meetings this week. A few measures are debatable as to whether they will pass or not, but one new idea expected to sail through involves player participation in the 2028 Summer Olympics.

No, there’s not going to be American football in the Olympics anytime soon, but flag football will be an official event by the time Los Angeles hosts the games. And you can expect, per ESPN reporter Adam Schefter, to see some of your favorite NFL athletes representing the United States.

As Schefter noted, “Nothing is official yet, but as one source said about today’s vote, ‘Olympics should be easy.'”

A decision like this requires multiple considerations, and Schefter notes that the league and player’s association are working together to ensure all angles are covered. Certain requirements will be adhered to concerning field conditions at all times, while others will make sure medical staffs are equipped and ready.

Olympic participation is coming, ready or not.

Each NFL franchise is expected to only allow one player per each national team that participates, which means you won’t see half of the Kansas City Chiefs out there playing flag football in three years. That does mean, however, that Patrick Mahomes could conceivably play for the United States while George Karlaftis might play for Greece, if he wanted, because he was born there.

Some NFL teams already have a foreign-born player on their roster via the league’s International Player Pathways program, and that includes Chukwuebuka Godrick. The offensive lineman is entering his third season with the Chiefs after joining the team in 2023 via the IPP. The Chiefs maintain a roster exemption for Godrick as they develop his talents.

Fans of every team will have differing opinions as to whether or not their favorite players should participate, and Chiefs Kingdom is no exception. Some Chiefs players will undoubtedly want to take advantage of an international opportunity to represent their country, but the complications that could arise due to injury make the debate interesting.

That said, while some players will decline for reasons all their own, fans should expect to at least see some stars taking such a risk. By 2028, that could include Mahomes or Xavier Worthy or Trent McDuffie joining Team U.S.A.

One more intriguing wrinkle here is the schedule. The L.A. games aren’t scheduled to start until July 14, and of course, the events are staggered over the course of multiple weeks. Flag football itself is going to require several days to whittle down the competition to a single winning team, which means the event could carry over into typical training camp days.

Schefter’s report at ESPN says the agreement during the owner’s meetings will demand a “schedule that does not unreasonably conflict with an NFL player’s league and club commitments.” But how that works with a late-summer training camp opening is going to be a wrinkle to iron out. Perhaps a star player will miss the first few days of camp.

For more conservative Chiefs fans, it’s going to be nerve-wracking to see Mahomes or Josh Simmons or Creed Humphrey taking the field in L.A. with fingers crossed, hoping that their favorite player comes out unscathed from the whole event. For others, it will add to the fun of the summer games to see players they already cheer for in a new event.

Either way, the Olympics are coming and the NFL is likely participating. Like it or not, Chiefs fans are going to have to get used to the idea.