United States flag football QB Darrell Doucette claims he is better than Patrick Mahomes

Darrell Doucette, the USA Flag Football quarterback, has been vocal about his stance on NFL players participating in the 2028 Olympics. He does not believe they should automatically get a spot on the roster because of their name. “The same process” of tryouts should take place to determine who gets to represent the United States in Los Angeles.

If/when those tryouts take place, Doucette is confident in his abilities to ultimately become the starting quarterback. Many might point to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes but Doucette says from a flag football standpoint, he is better than the two-time MVP and three-time Super Bowl champion.

“At the end of the day, I feel like I’m better than Patrick Mahomes because of my IQ of the game,” Doucette said in an interview with TMZ. “I know, right now, he’s the best in the league. I know he’s more accurate. I know he has all of these intangibles. But when it comes to flag football, I feel like I know more than him.”

Mahomes has expressed his desire to play in the Olympics. Other big-name quarterbacks have too, with Joe Burrow and Caleb Williams highlighting the list. Jalen Hurts started this whole conversation by appearing in a commercial to promote flag football and its Olympics inclusion. There are plenty of other Americans you could list off, making the potential Olympic quarterback room as star-studded as ever.

No matter who comes out and tries out, Doucette is confident flag football players would perform better — the transition from the NFL would be just too much.

“I can only voice upon what I have seen and what I know of myself,” Doucette said. “They have never played. So, I can easily say I’m better in flag football because they’ve never played. Now, if they take the time and actually put in the work, they should be better than me. They’re in the NFL, they’re elite. But I don’t think the transition would be as quick. I don’t think they would take the game as serious as we do.”

Doucette thinks there would be some struggles for Mahomes — or any other NFL quarterback — when transitioning to a traditional 11v11 game to flag football. Wide receivers would have an adjustment to make too, with physicality not being as prevalent.

“The width of the field is smaller,” Doucette said. “The timing isn’t as much. I think they’d have trouble with flagguarding… Defensive guys take charges like in basketball. So, it’s different little aspects offensively that the NFL wouldn’t be aware of either.”

For now, the NFL has not committed to allowing their players to participate in the games. NFL executive V.P. Jeff Miller recently said the league is “actively” working on the process. When the moment comes, Doucette wants a fair tryout and has confidence in himself to beat out anybody who steps up, even Mahomes.