The Fanatics Flag Football Classic was moved from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Los Angeles due to escalating global tensions and rising regional war in the area.
The event, which was held at BMO Stadium on Saturday, marked Fox NFL analyst and Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady’s first “return” to the field since retiring in February 2023.
The Classic saw Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen reunite in the booth and was hosted by comedian Kevin Hart, but it just might have had too much working against it, resulting in plenty of empty seats being spotted in the stands in still and broadcast images, even with tarps covering the upper deck of BMO Stadium, which primarily serves as a soccer venue.
Not only was the venue change announced only weeks before the 4.5-hour event was scheduled to kick off, but it went up directly against the first weekend of March Madness and the NCAA Tournament.
And even though Brady said that he was ready to get his “competitive juices flowing”, flag football hasn’t quite caught on in the United States as much as the NFL continues to lean into it.
Brady was joined on the field by both active and retired NFL players such as Jayden Daniels, Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb, Christian McCaffrey, Sauce Gardner, Myles Garrett, Brock Bowers, Maxx Crosby, Tyreek Hill, Odell Beckham Jr., and Rob Gronkowski, internet celebrities such as iShowSpeed and Logan Paul, and the U.S. flag football team.
Pat McAfee couldn’t believe the NFL players even agreed to compete against regular flag football players.
Three teams, coached by Pete Carroll, Sean Payton, and Kyle Shanahan, competed in a five-on-five format in a round-robin tournament and followed Olympic rules, with games played on a 50-yard field featuring two 10-yard end zones and two 20-minute halves.
Flag Football will make its Olympic debut at BMO Stadium in the LA28 Summer Games.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.