KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV) — Although he is a three-time Super Bowl MVP, Patrick Mahomes may have to prove himself on another playing field before he can add Olympian accolades to his resume.
Current American flag football quarterback Darrell “Housh” Doucette said he needs Mahomes to prove him wrong. Doucette believes he is better suited to lead the United States at the 2028 Olympics than Mahomes.
“I think it’s great that (NFL players) want to play and compete,” Doucette told TMZ Sports this week. “But ultimately, we want the same process that we had to go through. We had to try and so did they.”
“I don’t want them to be automatically included in the team based on their name alone.”
In November 2023, Mahomes expressed his desire to play flag football when the 2028 Olympics are held on American soil.
“I definitely want to,” Mahomes said of playing flag football in the Olympics before the Kansas City Chiefs game in Frankfurt, Germany. Still, Mahomes admitted the game is a little different. “But I’ve seen some of these guys play flag football. They’re a little faster than me. I know there’s no linemen blocking for you. I’ll be 31-32 years old.”
At the Olympic Games, flag football is played in two halves of 20 minutes each. The field is 64 meters long and 22 meters wide and is played in 5-on-5 format. Substitutions for offensive and defensive players are allowed.
“If I can still move around them,” Mahomes said, “I’ll try to go out and throw the football around, maybe in LA.”
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In 2022, the 5-foot-6 Doucette helped the U.S. national flag football team win gold at the World Games.
Mahomes will be 32 when the 2028 Olympics begin in Los Angeles. Doucette, now 35, will soon be 40.
However, Doucette said he believes he will be better suited to the role when the sport makes its Olympic debut.
“I don’t hide from the competition, I don’t hide from my teammates — nobody in the flag football world hides from the competition,” Doucette said. “At the end of the day, I feel like I’m better than Patrick Mahomes because of my IQ in the game. I know he’s the best in the league right now, I know he’s more accurate and he’s got all those intangibles, but when it comes to flag football, I feel like I know more than he does.”
Mahomes responded to Doucette’s comments on Wednesday with a surprised GIF featuring 50 Cent.
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