Washington Commanders owenr Josh Harris, right, talks with former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, right, before the start of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Tom Brady to play in Saudi flag football tournament alongside current and former NFL stars
LAS VEGAS (AP) 鈥 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.
Washington Commanders owenr Josh Harris, right, talks with former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, right, before the start of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
LAS VEGAS (AP) 鈥 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鈥 Pete Carroll, Denver鈥檚 Sean Payton and San Francisco鈥檚 Kyle Shanahan will be the coaches.
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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.
鈥淚t’s a multi-year commitment,鈥 said Brady, a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. 鈥淥bviously, we’re getting off to a good start. The first year will be kind of where everyone鈥檚 attention and energy is at. It鈥檚 the first time we鈥檝e ever done something like this, but all the players that I鈥檝e talked to are excited about playing. Obviously, with the Olympics coming up in 2028, I think it鈥檚 all the NFL players’ first exposure to it, and I didn鈥檛 want to miss out on being a part of it.鈥
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 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 over Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium.
Gronkowski said Brady asked him to be part of the flag football event.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥楾here鈥檚 no contact, right?’鈥 said Gronkowski, Brady’s go-to tight end in New England and Tampa Bay. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥業 already did all my contact in my life. I paid my dues in that department.鈥 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.鈥
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