A Crossing of roads between the Olympics and football is not completely a novelty. If we dig up the history, a number of NFL players will have their names etched on the Olympic stage. But there is one point. None has been there to display their football skills. Rather, they have been into rugby (Nate Ebner), track and field (Lawrence Okoye), and even skiing (Jeremy Bloom) and bobsledding (Willie Gault), that too mostly before starting their NFL careers.

So when the announcement of football being introduced in the LA Olympics 2028 came, the professional football players were understandably elated, anticipating the opportunity to become Olympians. Furthering the excitement, the NFL just released a promotional, where Jalen Hurts — Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and an NFL flag football ambassador lights the Olympic torch with a flaming football and tells the camera, “It’s our turn.” And Darrell Doucette, the QB of the USA’s National flag football team, didn’t like it.

Doucette thinks that the NFL just opened the doors of the Olympics for their own and it’s disrespectful to the players who have been grinding for a long time to get their names up on the roster of the sport to not even be acknowledged properly. In an interview with the Guardian, Doucette was quoted as saying, “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 — they didn’t help grow this game to get to the Olympics.” 

Doucette’s arguments were clear. He was not averse to NFL players finding a spot on the Olympic team, but not without a fight with the flag football stars of Team USA, scheduled to travel to Finland for the 2024 world championships (slated to begin from August 27) to defend their title. We just don’t think they’re going to be able to walk on the field and make the Olympic team because of the name, right?” said Doucette. “They still have to go out there and compete.” Doucette said. And he has good reason to say that.

Doucette’s contributions to Team USA speak for themselves. He played an important role in the 2021 world championship in Jerusalem, where the Americans defeated Mexico 44-41, clinching the country’s fourth consecutive world flag football title. In 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, he led the team to a gold medal. In the very next year, Douchette was named the most valuable player when the US secured Americas Continental championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a 7-0 score. But that is not the most notable win for Doucette.

The crowning moment for him was probably securing a win against a squad of former NFL players leading his own squad of championship-winning amateurs. The Pros lost by 20 points in a game that outclassed them not only with speed but also a display of skills like double passes, laterals, shifty hip movements and throws disguised as runs, things that are less common in tackle football. The victory fetched a $1m prize for Doucette’s squad. But what does that mean for flag football?

Doucette shows this instance to indicate the difference between traditional football and the seven-on-seven format where defenders try to stop ball carriers by pulling flag strips at their hips. “Some of the things that they do in the NFL that they call trick plays? We’re accustomed to seeing them on an everyday basis,” he explains. Notably, several revered NFL players of the present-day have already expressed their wish to be featured on the Olympic squad.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, the top draft pick in April’s draft threw his hat to the ring on an episode of the training camp docuseries Hard Knocks. Interestingly, the Olympics came to the same California, where Williams had won his Heisman trophy for college football’s best player. Weeks before the Paris Olympics started, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow added himself into the mix. “I really want to play for the Olympic flag football team,” he had said.

If that was not enough, MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes and receiving-yards leader Tyreek Hill also voiced the same wish. Tyreek had even said, “You know how amazing it would be to assemble a super team to play in the Olympics, man?” Understandably, his words had a reference to the US men’s basketball team at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

That was the first time NBA players were allowed in the Olympics, riding on which a star-studded team having Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird was formed. Dubbed as the Dream Team, it is considered the best-ever American squad. “I grew up a fan of the Dream Team. To say that I was able to compete for a medal for the US, it’d be special. It’d be something dope if NFL players could buy into that,” Hill said on his podcast. But Doucette appeared to throw cold water to these.

“It’s not that we need these guys. Because we’re already great with who we have,” he asserted. However, although there is concrete evidence of Flag football’s rising popularity in the country, Doucette’s comments did not receive much supportive voices.

NFL Audience boasts the superiority of the pro players

Taking a brutal hit at the player, one fan wrote, “All 32 starting NFL qb’s would start over him in the Olympics,” while another said, “Alright bro, go pro and play flag in the Olympics.” Although the user asked Doucette to join the NFL, stats suggest that it is flag football that has risen in popularity in recent times. According to the NFL’s official flag football program, the number of kids ages 6 to 12 playing flag football has risen by 38%, to more than 1.5 million since 2015. And there are acceptable reasons for that.

Flag football can be seen as the no-contact version of traditional football. Instead of physically tackling like that of traditional football, it involves snatching one of two flags hanging from the hips of the player having the ball. While injury risks can not be ruled out altogether, the chances of head impacts are significantly less here. And there is data to say that.

A 2021 CDC study claims children between 6 and 14 sustained 15 times more head impacts playing tackle football than flag football. Several studies over the past decade have even found a link between repeated head impacts and the risk for serious brain conditions, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. Despite all these, NFL fans remained upbeat about notable names of tackle football.

“Dude there is no way Patrick Mahomes ain’t taking your spot buddy,” said one user, acknowledging the Chiefs’ star player’s contributions to the sport. Ardently taking a dig at Darrell’s absence from the NFL, one spectator wrote, “I’m gonna guess NFL QBs are in the NFL for a reason.” A follower even highlighted the fear that resonated from Doucette’s comment, stating, “I think bros scared to lose his job lol.” Interestingly, despite fans discarding Doucette, NFL itself seems to be embracing the growing popularity of flag football.

In 2021, the NFL and Nike agreed to pump US$5 million in equipment to support high school flag football teams across the nation. During last year’s Super Bowl, almost 115 million viewers watched a flag football TV commercial that featured star Mexican quarterback Diana Flores trying to evade NFL players and celebrities as they attempted to take her flag. A recent instance also puts a stamp on the fact.

In February, the Pro Bowl, the NFL’s annual all-star game, snubbed tackle football for the second consecutive year for a 7-on-7 flag football game that aired on ESPN and ABC and streamed on ESPN+. In fact, most NFL teams support flag football at the grassroots level with summer camps, clinics, and regional tournaments. Despite that, some thought that Doucette might get expelled from the team USA when Mahomes takes charge.

“Bro got 4 years to get a citizenship in another country and make their team cause Mahomes and the squad carrying team USA.” But that’s not even the complete picture because it goes downhill from here. People think that NFL players would decimate flag football players, hence they should be the one to represent Team USA in LA28. One person pointed out, “Not a single flag football player should be in the 2028 Olympic team cmon bro, NFL athletes are professionals and the very best bro.”

Do you think these jabs are warranted? Let us know in the comments.