Many rejoiced when the NFL announced it would allow its players to participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in flag football, the first year American football will be allowed as an Olympic sport.
But Darell Doucette wasn’t one of them.
The 35-year-old quarterback of the United States national flag football team wasn’t too pleased with the possibility of losing his job to the likes of Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes or Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson and not representing his country in the Olympics.
“I think it’s disrespectful that they just automatically assume that they’re able to just join the Olympic team because of the person that they are,” Doucette told the Guardian last year. “They didn’t help grow this game to get to the Olympics. Give the guys who helped this game get to where it’s at their respect.”
In fact, Doucette believes that he’s better than Mahomes, and he thinks he’d be the better option to lead the U.S. to an Olympic gold medal.
“At the end of the day, I feel like I'm better than Patrick Mahomes because of my IQ of the game,” Doucette told TMZ last year. “I know he’s, right now, the best in the league. I know he’s more accurate, I know he has all these intangibles, but when it comes to flag football, I feel like I know more than him.”
Doucette’s gatekeeping likely won’t sit well with some NFLers, and Mahomes’ teammate Travis Kelce has already spoken out about the situation, sending a subtle warning to the flag football world champion.
“May the best players play,” Kelce stated on a recent episode of his “New Heights” podcast. “Is this guy afraid of competition? Just have a tryout and the best players make the team. He's just boxing out other people from joining the sport because they haven't played this specific style of football?”
Kelce’s brother and “New Heights” co-host Jason agreed, stating who plays for the U.S. Olympic team should be settled on the field.
“Let’s just have these guys play an NFL team that's picked and may the best team win and represent the USA,” he chimed in. “If these guys are the best, they should represent USA. But I don't know anything about flag football, I feel really confident they're not the best.”
