TAMPA, Fla. – Bucs Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans wants to play in flag football in the Olympics if he’s done playing in the NFL.
“Most likely I’ll be retired by 2028,” Evans said at the Pro Bowl. “How many years is that, three years? If I am retired I definitely would like to play in the Olympics. I would, yeah.”
Evans mentioned it to me this August at Bucs training camp, and I wanted to see if he had changed his mind. Playing flag football in this Pro Bowl got Evans’s juices flowing again.
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“This is good for me,” Evans said. Evans was on the NFC team along with QB Baker Mayfield, and he had a blast. A number of current NFL Players have mentioned they’d like to play in the 2028 Olympic games, but if they are still active in the NFL, that could cause some problems.
The Olympic Games will be in Los Angeles, which makes it easier, but the Olympics are in July, which most likely would cut into training camp. Evans made it clear that if he’s retired by then, he wants to give it a shot. Evans isn’t sure whether he’ll still be playing in the NFL in 2028.
Right now, though, Evans is hoping for an even better season for the Bucs on offense, even with new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard.
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“It’s going to be similar to what we’ve run,” Evans said. “We’re just trying to get into that best in the league level. We were really good last year. One of the top offenses in the league but we’re trying to be the best offense in the league. I think Josh can help us get there.”
The 31-year-old Evans is showing no signs of slowing down. Evans missed time with a hamstring injury but played in 14 games in 2024 and still got 1,004 yards with 11 touchdowns.
Evans and the rest of the NFL players who want to play in the Olympics would still have to make the team. Team USA in flag football are currently world champs with a squad of non-NFL players. The quarterback on the flag football team has said he thinks he and some of his teammates are better at flag football than current NFL players.
Nothing has been decided at this point on how the 2028 Olympic team will be picked.
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