American Football to be an Olympic Sport?

Softball and baseball went the way of the dodo in the Olympics because the International Olympic Committee felt that the United States of America was far too dominant in those sports to have fair competition on the world stage. Knowing this, it is shocking to think that Roger Goodell could possibly think that American Football has a chance of ever being included in the Olympics. He does manage to point out some interesting facts that start to make you think it is possible. In a recent interview, Goodell pointed out,

“We have already taken steps to gain that IOC recognition. We have, I think, 64 countries that are playing American football now, and that’s one of the requirements.”

Knowing that Goodell is attempting to push American Football into the Olympics, one must look at some of the specifics as to how exactly this would work. First, the Olympics are just over two weeks in length, meaning that the maximum amount of games that could actually played in the Olympics is two, with a round of four, and a round of two. Unless you played games less than a week apart, there is simply not enough time for an entire playoff series within the Olympics, meaning that if there were to be a round of 8, then 4, then 2, theoretically one would only have to start a week before the official beginning of the Olympics.

It still is incredibly unlikely to happen. The domination by the United States of America would make Olympic American Football, or whatever they would end up calling it, one of the most one sided sports of all time. Still, it did not stop Goodell from saying,

"We’re trying to make sure we continue to broaden the scope of our game, and if they give us the opportunity we certainly would push for it.”

Would you like to see American Football as an Olympic Sport even if every game was an 70-0 blowout?