{"id":52080,"date":"2025-05-29T08:52:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T08:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52080"},"modified":"2025-05-29T08:52:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T08:52:18","slug":"travis-kelces-stern-warning-to-flag-football-qb-claiming-hes-better-than-patrick-mahomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52080","title":{"rendered":"Travis Kelce\u2019s Stern Warning to Flag Football QB Claiming He’s Better Than Patrick Mahomes.."},"content":{"rendered":"

Many rejoiced when the\u00a0NFL\u00a0announced it would allow its players to participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in flag football, the first year American football will be allowed as an Olympic sport.<\/p>\n

But Darell Doucette wasn\u2019t one of them.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old\u00a0quarterback\u00a0of the United States national flag football team wasn\u2019t too pleased with the possibility of losing his job to the likes of\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0QB\u00a0Patrick Mahomes\u00a0or\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0QB\u00a0Lamar Jackson\u00a0and not representing his country in the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s disrespectful that they just automatically assume that they\u2019re able to just join the Olympic team because of the person that they are,\u201d\u00a0Doucette told the Guardian\u00a0last year. \u201cThey didn\u2019t help grow this game to get to the Olympics. Give the guys who helped this game get to where it\u2019s at their respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Doucette believes that he\u2019s better than Mahomes, and he thinks he\u2019d be the better option to lead the U.S. to an Olympic gold medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, I feel like I’m better than Patrick Mahomes because of my IQ of the game,\u201d\u00a0Doucette told TMZ\u00a0last year. \u201cI know he\u2019s, right now, the best in the league. I know he\u2019s more accurate, I know he has all these intangibles, but when it comes to flag football, I feel like I know more than him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"Kansas<\/picture>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
\n

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce at Arrowhead Stadium.<\/p>\n

Denny Medley-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Doucette\u2019s gatekeeping likely won\u2019t sit well with some NFLers, and Mahomes\u2019 teammate\u00a0Travis Kelce\u00a0has already spoken out about the situation, sending a subtle warning to the flag football world champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay the best players play,\u201d\u00a0Kelce stated on a recent episode of his \u201cNew Heights\u201d podcast. \u201cIs this guy afraid of competition? 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?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelce\u2019s brother and \u201cNew Heights\u201d co-host Jason agreed, stating who plays for the U.S. Olympic team should be settled on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s just have these guys play an NFL team that’s picked and may the best team win and represent the USA,\u201d he chimed in. \u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many rejoiced when the\u00a0NFL\u00a0announced it would allow its players to participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in flag football, the first year American football will be… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nTravis Kelce\u2019s Stern Warning to Flag Football QB Claiming He's Better Than Patrick Mahomes.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=52080\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Travis Kelce\u2019s Stern Warning to Flag Football QB Claiming He's Better Than Patrick Mahomes.. - 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