Cowboys tight end backs girls flag football as NCAA spot grows

Dallas Cowboys tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford showed up at the 2026 Girls Flag Football College Combine with a message that now has real numbers behind it: exposure in girls flag football is turning into offers. More than 30 athletes came away from the combine with college opportunities, a sign that the sport’s recruiting lane is no longer theoretical.

That lane got wider when the NCAA added flag football to its Emerging Sports for Women program on Jan. 16, 2026. The sport is now eligible to move toward championship status through the NCAA pathway, which has been used before by sports such as rowing, ice hockey, water polo, bowling, beach volleyball and women’s wrestling. NCAA officials said the move is meant to expand access, equity and opportunity, and Alabama State’s Ki’Lolo Westerlund said it shows future generations they can compete and build a future in football.

The pipeline feeding those offers is growing just as fast. The NFHS reported 68,847 girls played high school flag football in 2024-25, a 60 percent jump from the year before, while the number of schools sponsoring the sport increased by nearly 1,000. High school sports participation overall reached 8,266,244, an all-time high, but flag football is the piece climbing the fastest.

The recruiting bump is also tied to bigger stages. Flag football will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, and the NFL approved player eligibility for LA28 on May 20, 2025. Under that resolution, each NFL team may send one player, plus one additional international player if designated, giving the sport another layer of legitimacy that college coaches and families can see.

The Cowboys have spent the year building around that momentum in Texas. The 2026 Girls Flag Texas State Championship, staged June 13-14 at DATCU Stadium on the University of North Texas campus in Denton, paired the Cowboys with the Houston Texans in a push to crown the first-ever state champion and keep pressure on high school sanctioning across Texas.

That effort runs deeper than one showcase. The Dallas Cowboys ELITE Girls Flag Football team is built from top North Texas high school players, with uniforms, equipment and tournament fees covered. The club has also launched the Globe Life Girls Flag Star Scholars program, which will award 10 one-time scholarships of $5,100 each in 2026 to graduating seniors in the Cowboys’ North Texas girls flag league.