Why everyone is talking about the young Mexican quarterback Diana Flores

Despite her age, Diana Flores has become one of the leaders in Mexican sports. As the quarterback and captain of the Aztec Flag Football Team, she has continually broken barriers, building up to be an ambassador for the NFL and paving the way for women in a sport traditionally dominated by men.

Flores has been a world champion and a two-time university champion with the Tecnológico de Monterrey, completely dominating the world of flag football. Today, she serves as its global ambassador, to promote the sport around the world.

Born in Mexico City on September 28, 1997, her relationship with this sport dates back to her childhood, when she began practicing it when she was only 8 years old on men's teams.

(Photo: Official Instagram Diana Flores)

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In 2012, at the age of 14, she led the North Penn high school team in Pennsylvania (United States) and was crowned NFL champion in 2014. At the age of 16, she was already called up to the Mexican national team, being the youngest player to play in an international tournament, the IFAF 2014 Flag Football World Championship.

Successes would come shortly after. At the age of 18, she would win bronze at the 2016 IFAF Flag Football World Championship held in Miami, to achieve world silver in 2021 in Israel and, finally, gold at the 2022 World Games against the United States in a match in which she would be the absolute star with 4 touchdown passes.

(Photo: Official Instagram Diana Flores)

That tremendous success would lead her to become a global ambassador of NFL Flag Football, in addition to being considered the best player in the world of this increasingly well-known form of American football, largely thanks to her.

Flores was included in the '30 under 30' list, prepared by Forbes magazine annually, which includes young people whom it considers to be the most influential in sports in North America, highlighting issues such as their leadership capacity or their contribution to society.

(Photo: Official Instagram Diana Flores)

With that recognition, the Mexican quarterback closed a very special year after a debut in February as offensive coordinator in the 2023 NFL Pro Bowl, where she was hand in hand with the Super Bowl champion Payton Manning, who served as the team's head coach.

Also in February, Flores starred in 'Run With It', an NFL advertisement aired during the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023. In it, the Mexican player appears to be giving an interview that leads to a two-minute chase trying to take away her flag.

For that commercial alone, she won a Sports Emmy Award at the gala held in May in New York, which would not be the only one, as she would receive another for her work in the NFL documentary, 'Diana Flores: la campeona de Nextitla' (' Diana Flores: The Champion of Nextitla').

"I loved working on this project, telling my story. Many people see everything that is happening today, but they don't know what was behind it, during these 17 years of playing the sport," she said on the NFL website.

(Photo: Official Instagram Diana Flores)

"For me to be able to share all this with the world is also to be able to give them the message that no matter how long the road is, no matter the challenges that are put in front of you; in the end, if you follow your passion with determination, great things happen. "I never imagined that all this would happen one day and today I am living it," she added.

That same month of May, Flores would also become the first Flag Football player to be recognized by the Professional American Football Hall of Fame, specifically her jersey, which is displayed there alongside other belongings.

(Photo: Official Instagram Diana Flores)

"This is very significant not only for me personally, but also for Flag Football in general. It is enormously symbolic to show that football is for everyone, especially for Latina women and girls," the Mexican highlighted in statements to ESPN.

(Photo: Official Instagram Diana Flores)

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In the month of August, the athlete from Mexico City would also become a global ambassador for the Under Armor brand, also becoming the first athlete within her sport to sign an important sponsorship agreement with the American brand.

But her greatest challenge, among everything she has achieved, has been her appointment as an ambassador for the NFL to promote her sport throughout the world, something she described on the American league's website as "a dream."

"Today, being able to be that figure and in some way, inspiration and motivation for future generations, fills me with pride. (...) Today, the possibilities are endless," she said.

In an interview for Vogue México, Flores was grateful for "being able to be part of the agents of change and being able to be 'that seed of hope and motivation and that reminder for all girls and women that, with work, determination and love for what you do, dreams come true.'"

A key figure for women in sports, but also for the Latin community in the United States, to whom she has also given a spotlight: "After the Super Bowl I received many messages, especially from many Latin women and girls saying, 'it's the first time I see myself, it's the first time I feel seen, it's the first time I feel heard,'" she commented in Vogue.

"The girls' parents have also approached her to thank her for the fact that their migrant daughters in the United States feel proud of their roots and their language after having seen the Mexican flag in a setting of such magnitude," she added.

Flores participated in the 2024 NFL Honors as host, alongside Tyreek Hill, of the Miami Dolphins. Furthermore, she made her debut as a commentator for Univisión for the broadcast of the Super Bowl in Spanish in collaboration with CBS Sports and the NFL itself and, for more events on FOX Sports.

The future doesn't look bad at all for the Mexican athlete, who already has her next goals lined up. First, the World Cup in Finland, which will be held in August 2024 and in which Mexico wants to win the title again; and the 2025 World Games will be hosted in China.

(Photo: Official Instagram Diana Flores)

At the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, Flag Football will arrive for the first time as an Olympic discipline, largely thanks to her, who was the main architect behind the scenes.

"What motivates and inspires me is to continue opening doors for women in sports. I don't know for sure what is coming, but I only ask to have this strength and intelligence to continue opening opportunities for women. As an athlete, I have the Olympic dream in mind," she said on the NFL website.

"I want to continue representing my country, continue growing on a personal level, and continue working so that Mexico remains on top of the world," she shared in GQ magazine. Objectives that you can continue to meet while continuing to break barriers and make history within the world of sports.

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