Tutu Atwell performed quarterback. He performed receiver, and he additionally performed on protection.
Years earlier than diminutive and speedy Atwell matured into an NFL prospect, the Rams receiver performed flag soccer.
May anyone cease him?
“Nah, nah,” Atwell stated, chuckling.
So Atwell, a 2021 second-round draft decide who will earn $10 million this season, stated he can be cool and enjoyable if he acquired the chance in a couple of years to check out for the 2028 U.S. Olympic flag soccer crew.
Atwell echoed the sentiments of Minnesota Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson and different gamers within the league since NFL house owners final week authorized a decision that may permit them to check out for flag soccer. The decision limits just one participant per NFL crew to play for every nationwide crew within the Los Angeles Video games.
NFL gamers would compete for spots with others already taking part in flag soccer.
“It’s great,” Rams coach Sean McVay stated. “If that’s something that players say they want to be able to do, then I think it’s a really cool experience for them to be able to be a part of while also acknowledging that, man, there are some other guys that have been doing it.
“I’m not going to pretend to understand the nuances tactically and what that game entails, but I think it’s good. I think it’s great.”
Present flag soccer gamers would possibly really feel in any other case about an inflow of NFL expertise.
“This is a sport that we’ve played for a long time, and we feel like we are the best at it and we don’t need other guys,” Darrell Doucette III, the quarterback for U.S. males’s groups which have received 5 consecutive world championships, lately advised the Washington Publish. “But we all have one goal in mind, and that’s to represent our country.
“We’re definitely open to all competition. If those guys come in and ball out and they’re better than us, hats off to them. Go win that gold medal for our country.”
Particulars relating to NFL gamers’ participation within the Olympics nonetheless should be labored out by the NFL, the NFL Gamers Assn., the Worldwide Federation of American Soccer (IFAF) and nationwide governing our bodies.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, one of many prime passers in NFL historical past, grinned broadly when requested about taking part in flag soccer within the Olympics. Stafford can be 40.
“Sure,” he stated, laughing. “I mean, nobody’s going to want me to, but yeah, sure. It’d be fun. I’ll coach.”
And many others.
The Rams signed offensive lineman David Quessenberry to a one-year contract, the crew introduced Thursday. Quessenberry appeared in 84 video games with the Houston Texas (2017), Tennessee Titans (2018-21), Buffalo Payments (2022) and Minnesota Vikings (2023-24). The Encinitas, Calif., native was identified with Hodgkin’s lymphoma after being drafted in 2014 however underwent his final most cancers therapy in 2017. He was the 2017 recipient of the George Halas Award, given by the Professional Soccer Writers of America to an NFL participant, coach or workers member who succeeds within the face of adversity.
