USA Captain Darrell Doucette’s ‘Disrespectful’ Statement on NFL Players Signing Up for Olympics Flag Football Team Draws Severe Criticism: “Get ready to Learn the Bench”

Darrell Doucette wants equal opportunity as NFL players.

USA Captain Darrell Doucette’s ‘Disrespectful’ Statement on NFL Players Signing Up for Olympics Flag Football Team Draws Severe Criticism: “Get ready to Learn the Bench”

NFL players playing flag football at Pro Bowl games (Image via ESPN)

Darrell Doucette made headlines last year after the five-foot-seven-inch, 140-pound captain of the USA Flag Football team declared that he was a better quarterback than three-time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes. Despite the confidence, his position in the 2028 Olympics team is in jeopardy.

The NFL committee and the franchise owners unanimously approved letting football players represent the nation in the Olympics. Athletes must pass several criteria before they can hope to play, but as things stand, the NFL looks set to take over the flag football domain.

This development created fear among the current USA Flag Football team, including Doucette. He only wants his teammates to receive equal opportunity to wear the jersey in LA in four years.

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.

Darrell Doucette said as per Dov Kleiman on X

It is a complicated situation. However, the committee has plenty of time to decide on who gets to play.

Darrell Doucette faced heat on social media for comments on NFL players

Doucette’s sentiments are clear. He wants the flag football player to represent the sport they helped to grow. The current team won the 2023 IFAF Americas Continental Flag Football Championship. They went undefeated (7-0), and Doucette won the MVP in the final game.

USA Captain Darrell Doucette's 'Disrespectful' Statement on NFL Players Signing Up for Olympics Flag Football Team Draws Severe Criticism Get ready to Learn the Bench
NFL players playing Flag Football (Image via IMAGO)

In an interview with the Washington Post, Doucette claimed Pro Football and Flag Football are two different sports that demand different skill sets and dynamics. However, he also added that if the NFL athletes can prove themselves before the Olympics, the flag football guys will happily give up their spots.

This is a sport that we’ve played for a long time, and we feel like we are the best at it and we don’t need other guys. But we all have one goal in mind, and that’s to represent our country. We’re definitely open to all competition. If those guys come in and ball out and they’re better than us, hats off to them. Go win that gold medal for our country.

Doucette said

Several NFL players, such as the Dallas Cowboys’ pass rusher Micah Parsons and the Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, want to play in the Olympics. Doucette will be close to 40 when the games take place in LA. Most NFL players will be in their prime physically, and they can become accustomed to the game’s mechanics until then.

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