Fighting Cancer’s Darrell Doucette passes during a semifinal round game against Primetime at the American Flag Football League (AFFL) U.S. Open of Football tournament, Saturday, July 7, 2018 in Kennesaw, Ga. (Todd Kirkland/AP Images for American Flag Football League)
If you took a vote, Patrick Mahomes would be named the best quarterback in the world right now.
But according to U.S. flag football quarterback Darrell “Housh” Doucette, if you switched the pads for flags, the Kansas City Chiefs star and two-time NFL MVP is no longer in the top spot.
“At the end of the day, I feel like I’m better than Patrick Mahomes because of my IQ of the game,” Doucette told TMZ Sports. “I know he’s right now the best in the league, I know he’s more accurate, I know he has all these intangibles. But when it comes to flag football, I feel like I know more than him.”
While Doucette did admit that he’s not a better football player than Mahomes, he believed that when it comes to flag football specifically, he has the edge over the three-time Super Bowl champion. At least for now.
“I’m not saying I’m a better player overall, but until he steps on a five-v-five flag field, I’m going to feel that way until it’s proven otherwise,” Doucette said. “I’m a competitor and need to be proven wrong.”
Mahomes apparently caught wind of Doucette’s comments, and responded on X with a popular GIF of rapper 50 Cent.
With flag football making its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028, NFL stars such as Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Joe Burrow have expressed interest in representing Team USA at the Games.
NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said this off-season that the league and players union are having discussions about NFL participation in the Olympics.
Doucette, however, thinks it’s disrespectful to the flag football community that these NFL stars think they’d be given the spots.
“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 said in an interview with The Guardian on Saturday. “Give the guys who helped this game get to where it’s at their respect.”
He is open to adding NFL stars to the roster, just as long as they earn the spot.
“I’m not hiding from the competition, and none of my teammates nor anybody else from the flag football world are hiding from the competition,” Doucette said to The Guardian.
Doucette and the U.S. men’s team are currently preparing for the Flag Football World Championship in Finland. The competition runs from Aug. 24-31.
Flag football is played five-on-five and on a much narrower field than in the NFL.
