By MARK ANDERSON
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tom Brady plans to play alongside current and former NFL stars in a three-team flag football tournament in Saudi Arabia next year, the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback and Fox Sports analyst said Monday.
The Fanatics Flag Football Classic on March 21 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh also will include Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb, Christian McCaffrey, Maxx Crosby and Rob Gronkowski, among others.
Las Vegas’ Pete Carroll, Denver’s Sean Payton and San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan will be the coaches.
Brady is partnering with Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, to promote the event. Fox Sports will televise the tournament, and comedian Kevin Hart will be the host.
“It’s a multi-year commitment,” said Brady, a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. “Obviously, we’re getting off to a good start. The first year will be kind of where everyone’s attention and energy is at. It’s the first time we’ve ever done something like this, but all the players that I’ve talked to are excited about playing. Obviously, with the Olympics coming up in 2028, I think it’s all the NFL players’ first exposure to it, and I didn’t want to miss out on being a part of it.”
Flag football will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles Games in three years. NFL players are expected to make up a large part of the American roster, but USA Football is looking beyond the nation’s most popular league as it searches for potential players.
Alalshikh, who attended Monday’s news conference with Brady, already was in Las Vegas because he was among the promoters of Terence Crawford’s upset victory over Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium.
Gronkowski said Brady asked him to be part of the flag football event.
“I was like, ‘There’s no contact, right?’” said Gronkowski, Brady’s go-to tight end in New England and Tampa Bay. “I was like, ‘I already did all my contact in my life. I paid my dues in that department.’ I love to compete. I love to run around. I run routes every once in a while as well. It’s always going to be in my blood because I’ve been doing it my whole entire life. It brings joy out of me.”
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