NFL Legend Darrell Green Eyes USA Olympics Flag Football Team, 66-Year-Old Retired in 2002

Darrell Green was known as the ageless wonder during his NFL career, and he is looking to put that moniker to the test by trying to earn a spot on the United States flag football team for the 2028 Olympics.

Pat Graham of the Associated Press noted that Green, who turned 66 on Feb. 15, is among roughly 100 men's and women's athletes taking part in the national team trials this weekend in California.

Callie Brownson, the senior director of high performance and national teams for USA football, told Graham that Green earned a spot in the trials through the digital combine:

"Darrell qualified through our digital combine. He's later in his career than the other trials participants, but his testing results were impressive. Our coaches and staff felt he deserved a closer look. ... He's a rare athlete who has stayed in shape and is ready to compete this week."

Green had a 20-year NFL career that ended after the 2002 season. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot in 2008.

"I'm going to give it my best and I'll walk away with my head up, either way," Green said of his participation in the trials.

If anyone is capable of defying age to compete with the best flag football players in the world, Green would be close to the top of the list. He claimed to have clocked a time of 4.43 seconds in the 40-yard dash on his 50th birthday.

Green wouldn't be the oldest athlete to compete at the Olympics if he were to make the U.S. flag football team. That honor belongs to Oscar Swahn, who was 72 at the 1920 Games.

However, if Green were to make the team and the U.S. goes on to win, he would be the oldest athlete to receive an Olympic gold medal. Swahn also holds that record when he was part of the single-shot team running deer event in 1912 at the age of 64.

Players who get selected out of this weekend's event will move on to compete for a spot on the U.S. roster for the 2026 IFAF flag football championships taking place in Germany from Aug. 13-16.

Flag football will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.