Robert Griffin III will be on the call this week for ESPN’s coverage of the NFL Flag Championships. The former Heisman winner and NFL veteran sees the development of flag football as crucial in the development as well as the expansion of the sport.
The NFL Flag Championships will air on ESPN and will feature representatives for all 32 teams on the boys’ and girls’ side.
The growth of flag football in recent years has had multiple benefits for the game of football, Griffin says. Having played in the NFL for eight years and being a Pro Bowl selection in 2012, not many fans know that Griffin didn’t start playing football until he was 12 years old.
Flag football, he says, can help grow and develop young talent to play at the next level.
First, it is expanding the game beyond the traditional landscape of being primarily played by boys by giving girls a competitive platform. Second, Griffin said it is a good way to teach the fundamentals of football before putting on pads and a helmet.
And third, Griffin sees the importance of flag football in being able to expand football globally because all that is needed is a ball and flags for tackling.
In particular, Griffin said that women have always been able to play and compete in sports at the highest level, but they’ve often lacked the platform. He underscores that isn’t the case now, with ESPN getting behind this tournament.
“There’s a negative stigma sometimes around women’s sports that people have said (that) this is just not as exciting and they’re completely wrong,” Griffin told USA TODAY High School Sports this week.
“When you see the ability that some of these quarterbacks have and the ability to some of these wide receivers in their route running and their ability to catch the football, you’re going to be impressed because you’re going to say, ‘Oh, wow, I didn’t know that they were that talented.’
“Well, they’ve always been that talented. They just needed the platform and the space to showcase it, and now the NFL and ESPN have provided that. So we’re not talking about something that’s going to be aired on ‘ESPN the Ocho.’ We’re talking about something that’s going to be playing on the big ESPN.”
Griffin’s journey to appreciating flag football and the growing impact of women in the game began when he was in college.
Growing up in Texas, the involvement of girls in the game of football was limited to the annual powderpuff game played every year. But by the time he got to Baylor, Griffin was exposed to women not just playing the game but doing so at a high level that showcased their athleticism.
“Flag football has been able to highlight that in a much, much bigger way, because back in 2008, 2009, 2010 there wasn’t a flag football league for them to actually go play in and highlight those skills,” Griffin said.
“Well now the NFL and ESPN have poured so many resources into it, I undoubtedly believe there’s going to be a flag football professional league here soon as we gear up for the 2028 Olympics. And that makes it a much more inclusive sport.
“It grows the actual game of American football and makes it to where it becomes global.”
All 32 ESPN-produced games will also be available on ESPN+ and NFL+ as well as 20 of the games streaming on YouTube. A total of 10 games will be aired on either ESPN or ESPN2.
On Sunday, the girls’ and boys’ championship games will be available on ABC as well as ESPN’s other platforms.
