{"id":553370,"date":"2026-03-22T14:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T14:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553370\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T14:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T14:19:08","slug":"nfl-players-might-diminish-chances-of-winning-gold-in-flag-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553370\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL players might diminish chances of winning gold in flag football"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Saturday\u2019s Fanatics Flag Football Classic<\/a> was a prelude to the sports debut in the 2028 Olympics, and a setup for NFL players to take center stage when the Games land in Los Angeles, let\u2019s just say the American football world has a lot to ponder in the next year or so.<\/p>\n

On a day in which some of the league\u2019s most celebrated stars of both the present and past took the field for the four-game tournament at BMO Stadium, it was a group of no-names that stole the show.<\/p>\n

And in the process, raised a whole bunch of questions about who should ultimately represent America at the 2028 Games, and how the 10-player Team USA roster will be decided.<\/p>\n

Team USA\u2019s Velton Brown Jr. reacts after scoring against the Wildcats FFC during the Fanatics Flag Football Classic on Saturday at BMO Stadium. AP<\/p>\n

Before Saturday, the easy answer would have been to put together a team of NFL stars, roll them out two years from now in Los Angeles, and then wish the rest of the world a hearty good luck at winning the silver medal.<\/p>\n

But then, a group of unknowns who have been toiling for years in obscurity showed everyone why that might not be a great idea. And in fact, doing so might eventually cost the United States a gold medal in its own backyard.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVincent Bonsignore<\/p>\n

The no-names are the members of the current U.S. National team, and to say they have been circling the waters the last couple of days, licking their chops at the thought of playing against the likes of Joe Burrow, Davante Adams, Jayden Daniels, Tom Brady<\/a> and Jalen Hurts would be an understatement.<\/p>\n

Among them are speedy and accurate quarterback Darrell \u201cHoush\u201d Doucette and wide receivers and defensive backs Ja\u2019Deion High, Shawn Theard Jr. and Velton Brown Jr.<\/p>\n

They were on a mission this week,<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s show these guys that we are talented,\u201d a teary-eyed Doucette said. \u201cThat we are flag football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their vast experience playing the flag version of football over the years, and their understanding of the smaller field dimensions, the angles, the intricacies, and what\u2019s truly important in this format compared to the NFL game, gave them a decided advantage that few people could understand, let alone appreciate.<\/p>\n

Wildcats FFC\u2019s Saquon Barkley has his flags pulled by Team USA\u2019s Isaiah Calhoun (left) and Jamie Kennedy during the Fanatics Flag Football Classic on Saturday. AP<\/p>\n

As a card-carrying member of that particular group, I can now honestly say I have seen the light.<\/p>\n

Bottom line, Team USA dominated their star-driven opponents with quickness, precision, cohesiveness, intellect, creativity and just some good old-fashioned want-to.<\/p>\n

First, they rolled a team made up of Burrow, Daniels, Adams and others, 39-14, in a game that was not nearly as close as even the score suggested.<\/p>\n

Not long after, they took down Brady and teammates like Hurts, DeVonta Smith, Ashton Jeanty, Stefon Diggs and Antoine Winfield Jr. in a 43-16 blowout.<\/p>\n

Finally, they beat Burrow and Daniels\u2019 Wildcats teams 24-14 to sweep the tournament and win the championship.<\/p>\n

As a late entry into this week\u2019s tournament, which got moved from the Middle East to Los Angeles<\/a>, Team USA wanted to show everyone it deserves to represent America in 2028.<\/p>\n

It would be hard to argue their point after they embarrassed their professional colleagues in every imaginable way Saturday.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the 2028 roster will be decided by a combination of representatives from USA Football and the NFL. With the NFL hoping to expand its worldwide reach, including the big push it\u2019s giving to flag football, you can bet the league wants to showcase some of its biggest stars.<\/p>\n

So will all the television networks and fans across the world, for that matter.<\/p>\n

But Saturday\u2019s routs could make some people rethink all that. Or at least create some earnest thought about how they decide the 10-player roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever gives the team the best opportunity to win, that\u2019s who should be out there,\u201d Brady said of the 2028 Olympic team. \u201cSo there\u2019s a long way from that happening, a couple of years. But I think it\u2019s just good for the NFL players to kind of see \u2018oh, God, this is kind of what this game\u2019s all about.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In fairness, it should be noted that former NFL linebacker Luke Kuechly, who\u2019s been out of football for six years, was a key part of the defense for Burrow\u2019s Wildcats team. And that he and multifaceted entertainer Logan Paul, also a linebacker for the Wildcats, got abused time and again by Team USA\u2019s quickness.<\/p>\n

There is no world in which either will be under consideration for an Olympic roster spot, so the liability they were on Saturday should be taken with a grain of salt.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Logan, we\u2019re not for this game,\u201d Kuechly said afterward. \u201cI think when you look at it, you build it with corners and nickels on the defensive side of the ball and then fast skill guys in the offensive side of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team USA holds up the championship trophy during the Fanatics Flag Football Classic on Saturday. AP<\/p>\n

On the other hand, they also weren\u2019t the only stars getting exposed as bad fits on a flag football team. And that was a stark reminder that the United States is wrong to think it can just haphazardly put together a national team of NFL superstars and expect them to dominate the competition.<\/p>\n

As Saturday decisively proved, flag football is an entirely different game from the tackle version. The toughness and physicality of the tackle game not only don\u2019t translate to the flag format, but it\u2019s also a hindrance.<\/p>\n

Time and again, the NFL\u2019s bigger players got exposed by the short-area quickness of their Team USA opponents. It\u2019s how receivers kept finding open space to dominate on medium-to-long throws, or how dump-offs to swift-footed receivers in the flat in 1-on-1 matchups against bigger, slower defenders went for big gains.<\/p>\n

It should also be noted that Team USA has been dominating the world stage for multiple years together, winning five consecutive IFAF Flag Football World Championships.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Brady and Daniels\u2019 teams were literally put together Wednesday at a star-studded Beverly Hills bash in which the only thing flowing more than the cocktails was all the smack talk between the players.<\/p>\n

While one team approached this week as if a Super Bowl championship was on the line, two others might as well have been on spring break.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not an excuse for how badly the NFL stars got ransacked Saturday.<\/p>\n

But it is a reminder that the United States had better think long and hard about how it decides its 2028 flag Football roster. And make sure the necessary time is put into honing some of their players into flag football specialists in time for the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure if they put work into this, into this type of skill, they\u2019re gonna be the best of the best,\u201d Team USA coach Jorge Cascudo.<\/p>\n

But as he pointed out, \u201cFor now, we\u2019re the champs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Saturday\u2019s Fanatics Flag Football Classic was a prelude to the sports debut in the 2028 Olympics, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,3335,48,514,82,115674,12486],"class_list":["post-553370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-summer-olympics","tag-tom-brady"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}