Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has indicated that he might not be playing in the 2028 Summer Olympic games in Los Angeles.
2028 is set to be the first time that American football is played at the Olympic Games, with the non-contact flag version of the game taking place at BMO Stadium – home of the Los Angeles FC soccer team.
Despite previously showing his interest in playing for Team USA at these Olympics, Mahomes seemed to do an about-face when speaking to reporters.
‘I’ll probably leave that to the younger guys,’ Mahomes said to reporters Thursday. ‘I’ll be a little older by the time that thing comes around.’
Mahomes, currently 30, will likely still be competing at a high level when he turns 33-years-old before the Olympic games.
But by doing this, Mahomes could leave a roster spot open for other NFL players with interest in suiting up for Team USA after the league approved their participation.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes says he will pass on playing in the LA Olympics in 2028
It’s likely welcome news for Darrell Doucette, a QB on the USA national flag football team, who has been vocal in saying that NFL players shouldn’t be included within the roster
It could also help members of the United States national flag football team to make the roster, whose dreams of playing in the Olympics may have taken a massive hit in the wake of the NFL announcement.
Darrell Doucette, the starting quarterback on that team, has been vocal in his stance that he and his teammates shouldn’t be cast aside in favor of a roster of only NFL talent, according to the Washington Post.
Doucette competing for a spot on Team USA against the likes of Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Jayden Daniels, and others appears to be a mammoth task in the view of Travis and Jason Kelce.
Of course, the Chiefs tight end may want to wear the red, white, and blue himself.
‘May the best players play. Is this guy afraid of competition?’ Travis said on an episode of the New Heights podcast. ‘Just have a tryout and the best players make the team.
‘He’s just boxing out other people from joining the sport because they haven’t played this specific style of football?’
‘Lets just have these guys play an NFL team that’s picked and may the best team win and represent the USA,’ Jason added.
‘If these guys are the best, they should represent USA. But I don’t know anything about flag football, I feel really confident they’re not the best.’
Doucette does not want to be forgotten as flag football gets introduced into the Olympics
That prompted Travis Kelce to challenge Doucette: ‘Is this guy afraid of competition?’
‘We got some guys that can do some crazy stuff with the ball in their hands man,’ Travis continued. ‘ Watching Darrell’s highlights, even his highlights are f***in epic. Lamar would be f***, nobody’s catching him. Lamar got stocky. What if we hold like a combine?’
It is unclear how the Team USA squad for the Olympics will be chosen. If it is in line with other team sports, the head coach or national organization for the sport will choose the roster, in line with how the basketball and soccer teams get filled out.
Other sports like gymnastics and swimming, where there are team events, but athletes also compete individually, are chosen through the Olympic Trials, where a series of qualifying phases occur.
Doucette would be 38 for the Los Angeles Olympiad, with rare NFL players having massive success at that age or older, with Tom Brady being the glaring exception.
