Quarterback Darrell ‘Housh’ Doucette practices with the U.S. flag football team July 27 in Charlotte, N.C.

The U.S. began its defense of the world title it won in 2022 with a strong showing Tuesday as group play began, with a 57-25 win over Spain and a 52-6 win over Brazil. Over the two games, Doucette completed 15 of 19 passes for 281 yards and eight touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown and added another as a receiver.

U.S. quarterback Darrell Doucette scores a touchdown as a receiver during a 52-6 win over Brazil during group play at the IFAF Flag Football World Championships on Tuesday in Lahti, Finland.

(Lester Barnes / USA Football)

The U.S. finishes group play against Serbia on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Doucette told the Guardian he feels it’s “disrespectful” to the flag football community to “automatically assume” that NFL players will be the ones to represent the U.S. when the sport makes its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

He elaborated last week in an interview with TMZ.

“We are fans of these guys, and like I said, we love the fact that they wanna go out and win the gold medal and represent the country, just like us,” Doucette said. “But we don’t want to be forgotten about because we are the ones who helped this game get to where it’s at.”

He also mentioned that he might be a better option at quarterback than Mahomes, one of several NFL players who have expressed interest in playing flag football at the Olympics.

“I feel like I’m better than Patrick Mahomes because of my IQ of the game,” said Doucette, who led the U.S. to victory at the 2021 IFAF World Championship in Jerusalem, the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Ala., and the 2023 IFAF Americas Championship in Charlotte, N.C.

“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.”