2012 Summer Olympics: When Will Football Join The Games?

Last week, during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show hosted by Mike Florio, Roger Goodell said that football should "absolutely" be an Olympic sport.

Football is certainly gaining in popularity worldwide. Goodell stated that American-style football is played in 64 countries, up from 40 countries half a decade ago. But a main requirement to becoming an Olympic sport is to be recognized worldwide, and with the obvious dominance of the United States for generations, the International Olympic Committee may be less inclined these days to introduce a sport with limited global appeal.

But there is hope for football. BMX, gaining in popularity in the latter part of the 20th Century, began competing in the Sydney Olympics and after a century on the sidelines, golf will be resurrected as an Olympic sport in 2016.

Based on the trends of other sports that have achieved Olympic recognition, it is realistic to believe that football may become an Olympic sport in the 2064 Olympics.

So, with the London Olympics ending today, I thought it might be fun to imagine what the 2064 US Olympic Men's Football team would look like. Taking the current list of the top 100 NFL players of today, let’s see the status of this potential pool of players for the 43^rd Olympiad!

Huh.

Guess it might be more realistic to revisit this list in 2061.