NFL team owners voted last week to give players the green light to participate in flag football at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, but Darrell Doucette is calling for the current stars of the sport to get a fair shot at representing their country.
Doucette is the quarterback of a U.S. national flag football team that has won four straight global championships. The 35-year-old has never lost a game with the team. In an interview with Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post that was published on Sunday, Doucette shared some of his concerns about the NFL’s involvement in Olympic flag football.
Doucette said he feels like current U.S. national flag football players are getting “kicked to the side” with the way NFL players have discussed the 2028 Olympics.
“The flag guys deserve their opportunity. That’s all we want. We felt like we worked hard to get the sport to where it’s at, and then when the NFL guys spoke about it, it was like we were getting kicked to the side,” Doucette said. “I felt like I was the guy who could speak out for my peers, for my brothers that’s been working hard to get to this level, for us not to be forgotten.”
Last year, Doucette told TMZ that he feels he would be a better quarterback for Team USA at the Olympics than Patrick Mahomes because of Doucette’s “IQ of the game.” He said he was not trying to claim he has better physical traits than the three-time Super Bowl champion, but Doucette feels strongly that flag football and tackle football are “entirely two different games.”
Mahomes had a funny response via social media.
There is no question Doucette is one of the best at his sport. A highlight reel surfaced on Monday that is proof of that:
TRENDING: Darrell Doucette's flag football highlight real video has gone viral on social media.
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) May 26, 2025
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Doucette wants to be on the 2028 US Olympic football team — saying that he is a better quarterback than Patrick Mahomes.
pic.twitter.com/sIcuJN80zj
NFL players probably would not claim they know more about flag football than Doucette or any of his teammates. The big question for those selecting the Olympic team will be how much weight to put into experience with the sport versus pure talent.
We already know one of the best playmakers in the NFL has interest in playing for the Olympic team, and there will surely be others.
