Sportsnaut
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce publicly criticized USA Flag Football quarterback Darrell Doucette for comments suggesting NFL players aren’t needed on the sport’s Olympic team.
Olympic flag football will debut at the 2028 Summer Games, with NFL owners unanimously agreeing to allow one player per team to compete for the U.S. That will have to be whittled down, as only 10 spots are available for the five-on-five sport. Players also typically play both offense and defense.
Doucette, Team USA’s quarterback for five years, expressed frustration that NFL players like Patrick Mahomes and Christian McCaffrey could take spots from established flag football players for the 2028 Olympics.
“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,” Doucette said. “But we all have one goal in mind, and that’s to represent our country.”
The rest of his quote immediately thereafter will become relevant shortly.
Doucette stands at a staggering 5’8″ and weighs 140 lbs. And still, he believes he’s a better fit for the role of starting quarterback on the U.S. Flag Football team than some of the more elite NFL QBs.
That includes Kelce’s teammate, Mahomes.
“At the end of the day, I feel like I’m better than Patrick Mahomes because of my IQ of the game,” Doucette said.
Kelce, on his podcast New Heights, blasted Doucette for not wanting NFL players in his sport.
“I mean, may the best players play,” Kelce said. “Is this guy afraid of competition? 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?”
@newheightshow NFL players vs USA Flag, winner goes to the Olympics … who says no? @Perplexity ♬ original sound – New Heights
While Travis Kelce is giggling with his Uncle Rico haircut as he taunts the American Flag Football quarterback, he is also clearly ignorant of what was actually said.
Remember when we mentioned the full quote from Doucette? He’s not afraid of competition at all. Here’s what he said immediately after.
“We’re definitely open to all competition,” Doucette said. “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.”
the highlights of Darrell Doucette they didn’t want you to see pic.twitter.com/x4HFiT4tIQ
— Gavin McHugh (@gavinmchughh) August 23, 2024
Travis’s brother and co-host, Jason Kelce, suggested that an NFL-represented team should compete against the current flag football team to settle the debate.
But even then, the former Philadelphia Eagles center mocked Doucette and the U.S. Flag Football team.
“I mean, I’ve never – I don’t know anything about...
