Current:Home > MyMegan Rapinoe wants Colin Kaepernick to play flag football in 2028 LA Olympics-InfoLens
Megan Rapinoe wants Colin Kaepernick to play flag football in 2028 LA Olympics
View Date:2024-12-23 14:31:24
Retired USWNT star Megan Rapinoe expressed her support for Colin Kaepernick to headline the U.S. flag football team at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
"That would be really, an incredible moment to have Colin Kaepernick represent America on the biggest sports stage,” Rapinoe told USA TODAY’s Mackenzie Salmon.
Kaepernick told Sky Sports in August that he still wants to play in the NFL and would like to play for Team USA’s flag football squad at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Kaepernick, 36, ignited national controversy after kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and the murder of unarmed Black men. He played six seasons at quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers before parting with the team following the 2016 season. After remaining unsigned, Kaepernick reached an undisclosed settlement after suing the NFL for collusion to keep him out of the league.
"He continues to be blackballed by the NFL and one of the biggest sports in our country,” Rapinoe said. “So his career was really robbed from him. And continues to be. So if he could get the opportunity to represent America in the Olympics, and wearing the flag and everything, I think that would be incredible.”
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
The LA Olympics will add flag football as well as lacrosse, T20 cricket, baseball, softball and squash to the Olympic program. Flag football will feature five-a-side men’s and women’s teams on a field measuring 50 yards long and 25 yards wide.
The qualification process for the U.S. Olympic team has not been announced, but there is a potential for college, NFL, and active Team USA flag football players to make up the men’s roster. Although several NFL stars have expressed interest in playing, the athletes who regularly represent Team USA — and have won the last five IFAF Flag Football World Championships — seem determined to defend their spots on the Olympic team.
“[Kaepernick]’s such a huge talent,” Rapinoe said. “[His Olympic participation] would definitely be appointment viewing for me. And I'm sure many other people.”
Rapinoe added that she would want there to be tryouts so all players from different playing backgrounds can go head to head.
“I think ideally it would be a mixed team, some NFL players and then some players who have been there for a long time,” Rapinoe said. “I feel like that'd be probably the most respectful move.”
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
veryGood! (936)
Related
- Man charged with murder in fatal shooting of 2 workers at Chicago’s Navy Pier
- Tennessee House advances bill to ban reappointing lawmakers booted for behavior
- Don Henley resumes testifying in trial over ‘Hotel California’ draft lyrics
- Blogger Laura Merritt Walker's 3-Year-Old Son Callahan Honored in Celebration of Life After His Death
- Japan to resume V-22 flights after inquiry finds pilot error caused accident
- Gabourey Sidibe Is Pregnant, Expecting Twins With Husband Brandon Frankel
- Review: Dazzling 'Shogun' is the genuine TV epic you've been waiting for
- Indiana justices, elections board kick GOP US Senate candidate off primary ballot
- Atlanta man dies in shootout after police chase that also kills police dog
- Florida lawmaker pulls bill on wrongful death of unborn children after Alabama IVF ruling
Ranking
- Can't afford a home? Why becoming a landlord might be the best way to 'house hack.'
- Macy’s to close 150 unproductive namesake stores amid sales slip as it steps up luxury business
- Cherry Starr, philanthropist wife of the late Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr, dies at 89
- Jacob Rothschild, financier from a family banking dynasty, dies at 87
- Bluesky has added 1 million users since the US election as people seek alternatives to X
- U.K. companies that tried a 4-day workweek report lasting benefits more than a year on
- FTC sues to kill Kroger merger with Albertsons
- What counts as an exception to South Dakota's abortion ban? A video may soon explain
Recommendation
-
Why Amanda Seyfried Traded Living in Hollywood for Life on a Farm in Upstate New York
-
Dan + Shay sass Reba McEntire during 'The Voice' premiere: 'Don't let her sweet talk you'
-
The Daily Money: Let them eat cereal?
-
Tennessee replaces Arizona as No. 1 seed in NCAA men's tournament Bracketology
-
As CFP rankings punish SEC teams, do we smell bias against this proud and mighty league?
-
Georgia lawmakers approve tax credit for gun safety training, ban on merchant code for gun stores
-
Evers again asks Wisconsin Republicans to release $125M to combat forever chemicals pollution
-
Bobby Berk's Queer Eye Replacement Revealed