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Darrell Doucette takes issue with the notion that Patrick Mahomes can play flag football better than he can at quarterback.
Speaking to TMZ Sports (starts at 5:25), Doucette explained that Mahomes or any other NFL quarterback isn’t better than him right now because they’ve “never played flag football before.”
Mahomes has some flag football elements to his game, including the ability to improvise and avoid physical contact. It would be interesting to see if the Kansas City Chiefs encourage him to participate in flag football, considering how reluctant they were to let him even attempt a quarterback sneak since he missed two games during the 2019 season after dislocating his knee against the Denver Broncos.
While Doucette acknowledged that NFL players who trained specifically for flag football “should” eventually be better than him because they are “elite” athletes, the transition from the traditional game to flag football would not happen immediately.
These comments come after Doucette criticized the idea that NFL players would automatically step in as flag football players at the 2028 Olympics.
“I think it’s disrespectful that they automatically assume that they can be included in the Olympic team because of who they are – they didn’t help make this game popular enough to make it to the Olympics,” Doucette told Ramon Antonio Vargas of The Guardian. “Give your respect to the guys who helped get this game to where it is today.”
Flag football will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and the NFL and NFL Players Association are currently in discussions to potentially allow players to participate.
Current stars such as Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts and Tyreek Hill have publicly expressed their interest in playing Olympic flag football.
Doucette has been a staple of the USA flag football team since 2020. He will lead the men’s team into the IFAF Flag Football World Championship starting August 27.
