The arrival of flag football at the Los Angeles Olympic Games is a dream for NFL stars. To represent their country, however, they will have to dislodge their counterparts in the small world of non-contact football. A more imposing challenge than it seems if we rely on the flag football tournament held a few days ago in Los Angeles.
On one side, a team banking on quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels, running back Saquon Barkley and receivers Davante Adams, DeAndre Hopkins and Odell Beckham Jr. All NFL stars whose joint fortune must be around a billion dollars.
In front of them, the American flag football team led by a 1 m 70 (5’7”), 61 kg (135 lb) quarterback, Darrell Houch
Doucette, and a few other illustrious people unknown to the general public.
These are the kinds of scenes the public was treated to last weekend during the first flag football tournament organized by the company Fanatics at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
The result? Two victories for Doucette and his gang by a cumulative score of 63-28. And the American team reserved the same fate for another team which included Tom Brady, Jalen Hurts, Ashton Jeanty and Stefon Diggs.
A showcase for flag football
Ex-NFL player now member of the Canadian flag football team, Antony Auclair watched the broadcast of the matches with interest.
It was fun to see that because it got a lot of people listening to flag football and realizing how exciting it is, but it was taken a little lightly by NFL players
notes the former color wearer of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
After only a few days of training and with a few guest influencers to complete their teams, the NFL stars had, according to Beauceron, little chance of winning.
Quarterback of the American flag football team, Darrell Doucette (center) has been saying for years that NFL players will not be able to take his position away from him for the Los Angeles Games.
Photo : Associated Press / Caroline Brehman
The guys on Team USA have been playing together for four or five years. Darnell Doucette is 36 years old and he has been practicing this sport for about 20 years and competing in world tournaments.
Two different sports
Still, Auclair believes this tournament is a reminder to American, and even Canadian, NFL players that they will need to start playing flag football quickly if they hope to represent their country at the 2028 Summer Games.
The Games are coming soon, and there are so many differences between the two sports! Just the movement, when you have the ball in your hands, and the defensive concepts, that has nothing to do with it
describes the former Rouge et Or.
On defense, at the flag, there is zero contact. At the receiving point, you cannot put your hand on a receiver while trying to knock the ball down. It takes time to adapt
he continues.
Anthony Auclair has been part of the national flag football team since last May.
Photo: Courtesy: Antony Auclair
Add to that the risk of injuries, and the fact that many NFL players cannot afford to miss a large part of their team’s training camp, Goodell circuit players could become rare in Los Angeles.
I think it’s going to be a beautiful mix real flag players and some NFL players. I was watching DeVonta Smith [des Eagles de Philadelphie]at the end of the week, and we could see that he understood the flag football movement a little more. Same thing for Jayden Daniels [des Commanders de Washington] as quarterback.
A place up for grabs for the Canadian team
A little more than two years after formalizing his retirement from the NFL, Antony Auclair is very serious about his Olympic dream. The former tight end has lost around 40 pounds and, at 32, is working out enormously
while presiding over his own growing flag football league.
The closer we get to the Games, the more real it is, but I’m a stage guy. Right now, it’s about qualifying the country.
Only six countries will participate in the flag football tournament at the Los Angeles Games, leaving the host American team five spots behind. At the World Championship played in Germany next August, the two best teams in the tournament, besides the United States, will automatically qualify for the JO.
The three remaining places will be contested in 2027. And if certain NFL players try their luck with the Canadian team by then, Auclair will welcome the competition with open arms.
It’s the same principle as a professional team wanting the best possible players on the field. We fight for our positions every year.