Lamar Jackson fights back in debate over NFL stars vs flag football players
Flag football will officially debut as an Olympic sport when the much-heralded event comes to Los Angeles in 2028. While the decision was greeted with a lot of positivity, it also raised a question regarding which team would be Team USA's best shot at a gold medal in the sport.
A number of NFL superstars made it known that they would be more than open to suiting up in the 2028 Olympics but Darrell Doucette, the reigning MVP of the International Federation of American Football flag football championship, took offense at the fact that NFL players thought they could just walk into the team. In an interview with TMZ, Doucette said that he was better placed to lead Team USA's flag football team, saying:
"I feel like I'm better than Patrick Mahomes because of my IQ of the game."
Doucette's bold statement gave rise to an intense debate. On Friday night, reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson made his thoughts clear on the situation. The Ravens quarterback quote tweeted a post of a fan pitting his highlights against flag football players, saying:
"Like we don't know how to play flag FOOTBALL all of a sudden? I did that at the Boys & Girls club."
Jackson wasn't the only player to step into the debate on a public platform. Earlier this week, Patrick Mahomes also had his say, responding to Doucette calling him out on social media.
Why Team USA could potentially field an All-Pro cast at flag football in 2028 Olympics
There's clearly no shortage of uber-talented players willing to suit up for Team USA in their chase of a gold medal in Los Angeles four years from now. In an interview with Pardon My Take last month, Joe Burrow also made it clear that he had an eye on the flag football team.
"That’d be sick, wouldn’t it?" Burrow said. "I really wanna play for the flag football team. Me, Ja’Marr [Chase], Justin [Jefferson]… I think it’d be really cool."
And that's not all.
NFL legend Peyton Manning added that it would be "scary" to see Lamar Jackson and Tyreek Hill tear it up on the flag football team in 2028.
The Broncos legend also threw his hat in the ring to coach the team but added that there are more qualified coaches to lead Team USA to the gold.
"There's no way I'm getting picked now that Eli's beat me twice... Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay would be more qualified. I'd be curious how many NFL teams let their coaches or players miss training camp to go participate in the Olympics, just to add something else to Roger Goodell's plate," Manning said.