With flag football set to make its Olympic debut in 2028, the decision to include top NFL stars such as Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts and Tyreek Hill will be closely watched.
But one current player on the U.S. men’s national soccer team doesn’t want full-time flag football players to automatically lose their position.
“I think it’s disrespectful to automatically assume that it’s because of their character that they make the Olympic team. They’re not helping to grow the sport to get to the Olympics,” quarterback Darrell Doucette III said. He told the Guardian“Let’s pay tribute to the people who have made this game so successful.”
Doucette, who is registered as a quarterback and center for the U.S. men’s national team for the 2024 IFAF Flag Football World Championship in Finland later this month, won the 2021 tournament in Jerusalem and led his team to victories at next year’s world championships and the 2023 Americas Flag Football Championship.
Doucette, who defeated Mexico by four points in last year’s final, was named the game’s MVP award. According to the American Football website:.
But the sport has been attracting a different kind of attention since it was announced as one of the additions to the 2028 Paris Olympics, along with baseball, softball and lacrosse.
According to the Guardian, Mahomes said in November that he would “absolutely” like to attend the event if it were to happen, while Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill and Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams have also expressed interest in potentially playing in Los Angeles that summer.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts also appeared in a recent NFL-promoted flag football ad, tossing the football toward the Los Angeles Coliseum and saying, “It’s our turn now.”
Flag football team. yo_everything/Instagram
But in Doucette’s eyes, Hurts and other stars may have to work to keep current national team members out of the roster.
“You don’t expect them to go on the field and make the Olympic team because of their name, right?” Doucette told the outlet, adding: “It’s not like we need them on the team.”
“They still have to go out and compete,” he said.
