With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics just a few years away, eyes are turning to the handful of new sports coming to L.A. One of them — flag football — is generating extra excitement, as the all-American sport makes its Olympic debut in just four years.
While fans are excited about the idea of ​​Team USA fielding a roster of NFL all-stars, current USA flag football quarterback Darrell “Housh” Doucette has something to say about the idea. In an interview with The Guardian published Saturday, Doucette said that NFL players expecting an easy roster spot may not find it so easy.
“We just don’t think they can walk out on the field and make the Olympic team because of the name, right?” Doucette told The Guardian. “They still have to go out there and compete.”
Doucette took issue with an NFL promotion in which Jalen Hurts — quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles and ambassador for the NFL flag football — lit the Olympic torch with a flaming football and told the camera, “It’s our turn.” According to The Guardian, Doucette believed Hurts was indicating he wanted to play — but Team USA already has a quarterback.
Other NFL quarterbacks, including Joe Burrow and Caleb Williams, have also said they would like to play on the Olympic team. Doucette said he expects players to want to audition for the team, but that they shouldn’t take those spots for granted.
“I think it’s disrespectful that they automatically assume that they can just make the Olympic team because of who they are — they didn’t help grow this sport to get to the Olympics,” Doucette said. “Give the guys that helped this sport get to where it is today their respect.”
For years, the NFL lobbied heavily for flag football to be included in the Olympics, in part as a way to give the sport greater global reach. As a result, flag football was officially added to the LA 2028 program, joining baseball/softball, cricket, lacrosse sixes and squash as additional sports in Los Angeles.
The 2028 Olympics will feature both men’s and women’s flag football. Team USA’s men’s team has won five of the last six World Championships; the U.S. women’s team has also been very successful, winning the last two World Championships in 2018 and 2022.
The 35-year-old Doucette has been successful for Team USA, helping the team to the 2021 World Championship in Jerusalem, a gold medal at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, and a U.S. Continental Championship in 2023, where he won the MVP award.
He was also a member of an amateur team that defeated a team of former NFL players on national television in 2018. Doucette led the team to a 20-point victory over the NFL team, which also included running back Justin Forsett and former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace, and was coached by Michael Johnson, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in track.
According to the Guardian, Doucette’s success in that 2018 game was largely due to the team’s speed, plus its ability to execute fakes and laterals in a way that tacklers weren’t used to. As a result, NFL players hoping to join the flag football team may find the game difficult to acclimate to, especially with a team made up of players who have been playing the sport for years.
“It’s not like we need these guys,” Doucette told The Guardian, speaking of NFL players hoping to become Olympians. “Because we’re already great with who we have.”
Doucette and Team USA will soon travel to Finland for the 2024 World Championships, where they will defend their title starting August 27 in a tournament that will feature 31 other countries.
