From Super Bowls to gold medals, NFL stars pumped for flag football at the Olympics

VIDEO SHOWS: WOMEN´S GLOW-IN-THE-DAY FLAG FOOTBALL MATCH WITH EX-NFL QUARTERBACK ELI MANNING THE REFEREE & CURRENT NFL STARS BROCK PURDY, PUKA NACUA, JORDAN LOVE, MICHAEL PITTMAN JR. & KYLE HAMILTON THE COACHES FOR THE RESPECTIVE TEAMS / COMMENTS FROM MANNING, PURDY, NACUA & LOVE SHOWS: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 4, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. ELI MANNING CLAPPING WEARING A REFEREE T-SHIRT FOR A WOMEN´S GLOW-IN-THE-DARK FLAG FOOTBALL GAME 2. MANNING HOLDING A LARGE CHECK 3. MANNING POSING FOR A PHOTO WITH SEVERAL NFL PLAYERS AND HIGH SCHOOL FLAG FOOTBALL ATHLETES 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER GIANTS QUARTERBACK, ELI MANNING, ON FLAG FOOTBALL, SAYING: “It's not, you know, it's not an expensive sport. You can get, you know, you need a flag and a football and you can go play in a jersey. So, I think this, the fact that it's getting more kids outside playing sports and then helping grow the game and the fact is it´s not just a stepping stone in the tackle now, flag, you know, you can play it in high school, you know, play it in college eventually, it's going to be an Olympic sport. There's just a lot of excitement around it and I'm all for it." 5. BROCK PURDY AND PUKA NACUA CHEST BUMPING 6. PURDY WITH THE PINK TEAM FOR FLAG FOOTBALL 7. NACUA AND PURDY (SOUNDBITE) (English) SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS QUARTERBACK, BROCK PURDY, SAYING: “Growing up, to be able to see all these different Olympians that we've watched in multiple different events and sports, and to now have football in that conversation, it's really sweet, and to maybe think one day that that could be us walking with Team USA or wherever we're from, I think that'd be pretty cool. But I'm not really sure where we're at with all that, but it's a really cool idea." 8. VARIOUS OF HIGH SCHOOL WOMEN ATHLETES PLAYING IN GLOW-IN-THE-DARK FLAG FOOTBALL 9. MANNING THROWING A FLAG AS A REFEREE 10. NACUA RUNNING TOWARDS THE FIELD 11. NACUA SPEAKING WITH PINK TEAM COACH 12. NACUA HYPING UP THE PINK TEAM 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOS ANGELES RAMS WIDE RECEIVER, PUKA NACUA, SAYING: “I'm super excited for the Olympics and flag football. I think for everybody to get a chance to see what it's like to have athletes running around throwing the pigskin. I think it would be pretty cool and for it to be in LA, I would love to be able to represent our country and to play in that game and then see if I can play defense too. I think that would be fun. That's a huge challenge. After I saw Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals wide receiver), I'm like, my skill set needs to improve." 14. MANNING INTERACTING WITH PURDY, NAKUA, JORDAN LOVE AND OTHER ATHLETES  15. MANNING TALKING TO BOTH TEAMS  16. LOVE AND MICHAEL PITTMAN JR. STANDING TOGETHER  17. (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREEN BAY PACKERS QUARTERBACK, JORDAN LOVE, SAYING: “I think it's very cool, the Olympics, and we'll see with the NFL players if they're playing in it or not. I probably would not be playing in the game, but I'm excited to see who's out there representing Team USA and obviously want them to go win gold." 18. PITTMAN JR. AND LOVE GUIDING THEIR TEAM OUT 19. LOVE BEING INTERVIEWED BY FANS 20. MANNING POSING WITH BOTH TEAMS AND SEVERAL NFL PLAYERS STORY: NFL stars past and present shared their excitement at flag football making its anticipated Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. In May 2025, NFL owners voted unanimously 32-0 to allow their players to play flag football at the 2028 Games, with a maximum of one player from each team allowed to participate and the respective designated international players also permitted to take part for their respective countries. Speaking during a glow-in-the-dark flag football event in San Francisco on Wednesday (February 4), Super Bowl-winning ex-Giants quarterback Eli Manning, as well as current stars Brock Purdy, Puka Nacua and Jordan Love all backed the sport to shine. (Production: Maria Alejandra Cardona, Stefan Haskins)

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