Robert Griffin III is officially suiting up to “go for gold.”
The former Cleveland Browns quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner confirmed this week that he has been named to the USA Football National Team, with a graphic he shared showing him listed as one of four quarterbacks on the roster.
“God’s plan,” Griffin said. “The work is just getting started. Excited to work with my new teammates. USA!”
The announcement answers a question that had been lingering since earlier this month. Griffin had revealed his intention to compete with Team USA in flag football ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but his exact role was unclear at the time.
He’ll compete for a spot on the 12-man roster for the 2026 International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Flag Football World Championship in Dusseldorf, Germany.
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Griffin, 36, is now officially part of the national team picture. He said being out of the NFL gives him a leg up on making the team.
“There may be current NFL players on the roster. There may not be. Going for gold with Team USA is a process. I started mine in 2026. Any NFL player thinking they will start their process in 2028 is in for a rude awakening. How is an NFL team going to allow their QB, RB, WR, TE or DB to miss OTA’s, mandatory Mini Camps to attend Flag Football training camps? Or to miss training camp and the Preseason to play in the Olympics in 2028?” Griffin said. “The reality is all NFL players want to win a Gold medal in 2028. The reality is that many NFL players could make the team if they start getting their time on task in the sport and building chemistry with the current players and current coaches in 2026. They don’t have the time and NFL teams won’t be okay with their starting QB, WR,DB,RB or TE missing time to gain that experience.”
Flag football is set to debut as an Olympic sport at the LA 2028 Summer Games, one of five sports added to the program. Team USA has already shown it can compete at the highest level.
Earlier this month, the national team went 3-0 at the inaugural Fanatics Flag Football Classic in Los Angeles, outscoring two rosters of current and former NFL stars 106-44. They topped a team quarterbacked by Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels, then dispatched Tom Brady’s Founders squad, before closing with a championship win.
“Those guys that we competed against, they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into,” Team USA quarterback Darrell “Housh” Doucette III said. “They just thought that they were going to come out and play. But I think we gained a lot of respect from those guys.”
Griffin’s Road From the NFL to the Olympics
Griffin won the Heisman at Baylor and was selected second overall by Washington in the 2012 NFL Draft, earning Offensive Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowl honors in his first season. A severe knee injury in a playoff loss to Seattle derailed his momentum, and he never fully recaptured it.
Griffin signed with the Browns in 2016, won a four-man quarterback competition, and then had injuries strike again. He finished his time in Cleveland with 886 passing yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions across five games before being released. His last NFL appearance came in 2020. He was waived by the Baltimore Ravens in January 2021.
He never fully shut the door on competing. Griffin held a return-to-play clause in his ESPN analyst contract and publicly floated a potential return to Cleveland as recently as early 2024.
Now, the stage he’s chosen isn’t the NFL — it’s the Olympics.
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