Current:Home > MarketsMegan Rapinoe wants Colin Kaepernick to play flag football in 2028 LA Olympics -×
Megan Rapinoe wants Colin Kaepernick to play flag football in 2028 LA Olympics
View
Date:2025-04-12 08:35:11
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! (15)
Related
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- A deaf football team will debut a 5G-connected augmented reality helmet to call plays
- Powerball dreams: What can $1.4 billion buy me? Jeff Bezos' yacht, a fighter jet and more.
- Auto workers stop expanding strikes against Detroit Three after GM makes battery plant concession
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Iran says Armita Geravand, 16, bumped her head on a train, but questions abound a year after Mahsa Amini died
- Rare manatee that visited Rhode Island found dead offshore
- Woman opens fire in Connecticut police department lobby, prompting exchange of gunfire with officer between bullet-proof glass
- Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
- How I learned to stop worrying and love Edgar Allan Poe
Ranking
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- Authorities can’t search slain Las Vegas reporter’s devices, Nevada Supreme Court rules
- Proof Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel Are in Seventh Heaven on Italian Getaway
- ACLU sues a Tennessee city over an anti-drag ordinance
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- State bill aims to incentivize safe gun storage with sales tax waiver
- Kaiser Permanente workers set to end historic strike, but another may loom
- 2023 UAW strike update: GM agrees to place electric vehicle battery plants under national contract
Recommendation
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
How kids are making sense of climate change and extreme weather
Check Out the Most Surprising Celeb Transformations of the Week
50 Cent, ScarLip on hip-hop and violence stereotype: 'How about we look at society?'
Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
Georgia investigators lost and damaged evidence in Macon murder case, judge rules
Angus Cloud’s Childhood Friends Honor “Fearless” Euphoria Star 2 Months After His Death
Jason and Kylie Kelce's Adorable Family Photos Prove They're the Perfect Team