On Sunday, September 22, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the Denver Broncos in a 1 p.m. ET kickoff at Raymond James Stadium. Throughout the day, the team will spotlight the rise of flag football and its presence throughout Tampa Bay with the NFL's first game theme solely dedicated to the sport.
As the sport rises in popularity and with the recent announcement that flag football will be included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, the Buccaneers continue to be a catalyst for growth with extensive programming centered around it. The team hosts the largest girls flag football competition in the country with its Girls Flag Football Preseason Classic and, in 2024, set a record with the highest-attended regular season girls flag football game in history, as well as the highest-attended FHSAA State Championships. The team hosted both events at its training headquarters, the AdventHealth Training Center.
Throughout Tampa Bay, over 28,000 youth athletes participate in the sport, and the area features four of the top 10 girls high school flag football teams in the nation. Athletes from those four teams, Alonso High School, Robinson High School, Lennard High School and Newsome High School, will be featured at halftime of Sunday's game in a Girls Flag Football All-Star Showcase presented by Head & Shoulders. Athletes from Alonso and Robinson will comprise the Red Team, with Lennard and Newsome making up the Pewter squad.
Ahead of Sunday's halftime, the Buccaneers will host the athletes at the AdventHealth Training Center for practice and a photo shoot earlier in the week. There they will also meet their honorary team captains, Buccaneers outside linebackers YaYa Diaby and Jose Ramirez. Diaby will captain the Red Team while Ramirez will represent the Pewter squad.
The Buccaneers 2024 nominees for the NFL Latino Youth Honors Award, Ariana Herrera and Chris Sanchez, of the Lennard flag and tackle football teams will serve as the Honorary Coin Toss Captains, while Lennard Flag Football Head Coach and 2024 Buccaneers Girls Flag Football Coach of the Year Travis Combs will be recognized as an AdventHealth Goal Getter.
A number of individuals will be recognized throughout the game, including USA Flag World Champion and Robinson High School Coach Deliah Autrey, USA Flag World Champion Maci Joncich, who currently attends the University of Florida and is the youngest member ever to make the senior national team, and the U-11 2024 NFL Flag Champions from Pirate Bay Krewe Flag Football.
The full list of Buccaneers game themes for the 2024 season can be found here.
