Latest news with #USAFootball
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
USA Football Reacts to Patrick Mahomes' Olympic Message
USA Football Reacts to Patrick Mahomes' Olympic Message originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The idea of NFL stars taking part in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is a tantalizing one. It could definitely happen, and among the players fans are eager to see in action in the next cycle of the Summer Olympics is none other than Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Advertisement However, Mahomes doesn't seem to be all that interested in representing the United States in the flag football event of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. 'It's awesome to be able to showcase the NFL to the whole world through flag football, but I'll probably leave that to the younger guys,' Mahomes said after the Chiefs' OTAs on Wednesday (via Jayna Bardahl of The Athletic). 'I'll be a little older by the time that comes around.' A part of that quote was posted on the NFL on ESPN Instagram account, sparking lots of reactions, including one from the official Instagram account of USA Football. 'Can't wait to build the team to #RepTheFlag for LA28 🇺🇸🥇,' USA Football's comment read. Mahomes will be turning just 30 years old in September and will be only 32 years old when the 2028 LA Olympics start on July 14 of that year. That is still relatively young for a quarterback. Of course, there is still time for Mahomes to change his mind, but it appears that his main focus remains on his NFL career. Advertisement U.S. flag football quarterback Darrell 'Housh' Doucette has been adamant in his stance that flag football players should be prioritized for the country's Olympic roster, a notion that has garnered him major flak. Patrick Mahomes II watches during the second half in the game against the Houston C. Johnson-Imagn Images In any case, Mahomes doesn't need an Olympic gold medal to secure his spot in football history. He is already one of the best to ever do it, based on what he's achieved so far in the NFL, including three Super Bowl titles, three Super Bowl Most Valuable Player honors and two NFL Most MVP awards, to name a few. Related: Chiefs' Mahomes Announces Major Decision on 2028 Olympics This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on May 30, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
26-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Darrell Doucette on Olympic flag football: 'Flag guys deserve their opportunity'
Darrell Doucette on Olympic flag football: 'Flag guys deserve their opportunity' Show Caption Hide Caption NFL players can now partake in Olympic flag football Olympic flag football, which will make it's debut at the 2028 summer games, just got bumped up a level after the NFL agreed to let its players partake. Sports Pulse The NFL voted unanimously to allow its players to participate in Olympic flag football in 2028. Flag football star Darrell Doucette III is welcoming competition for roster spots but is hoping he and his peers won't be pushed out of the Olympic picture entirely. "The flag guys deserve their opportunity. That's all we want," Doucette told the Washington Post. "We felt like we worked hard to get the sport to where it's at, and then when the NFL guys spoke about it, it was like we were getting kicked to the side. I felt like I was the guy who could speak out for my peers, for my brothers that's been working hard to get to this level, for us not to be forgotten." Doucette first made headlines during the summer of 2024 when he proclaimed he would be "better than Patrick Mahomes" at flag football because of his "IQ of the game." "I know he's right now the best in the league, I know he's more accurate, I know he has all these intangibles, but when it comes to flag football, I feel like I know more than him," Doucette said at the time. His proclamation drew the ire of NFL fans and players alike. Mahomes responded to Doucette's comments with a GIF of rapper 50 Cent appearing confused. Even so, Doucette has continued to insist the players' transition from the NFL to flag football may not be as easy as many are anticipating. "It's entirely two different games," Doucette told the Washington Post. "You can't really compare flag football and tackle football." 2028 OLYMPICS: Which NFL players we'd like to see suit up for Team USA Notably, Doucette believes the difference in physicality between the two games would mark a tough adjustment for NFL players. Additionally, he isn't sure whether NFL players could quickly and instictively learn the moves flag football players use to avoid having their flags ripped off during play. "These are things that we practice and we work on to become great," Doucette said. "Those guys, they don't understand it yet." The NFL has promised a "tryout or qualification process" to determine which of its players could draw consideration for the Olympic flag football roster. Meanwhile, USA Football – the governing body that oversees U.S. Olympic flag football – praised the NFL's decision while noting the player pool already included "prominent flag football stars who have helped USA Football establish a gold-medal standard in international competition." While Doucette remains steadfast perennial flag football players should comprise most of the roster, he made it known he would be pulling for his country regardless of who makes the team. "This is a sport that we've played for a long time, and we feel like we are the best at it and we don't need other guys," Doucette said. "But we all have one goal in mind, and that's to represent our country. We're definitely open to all competition. If those guys come in and ball out and they're better than us, hats off to them. Go win that gold medal for our country."
Miami Herald
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Roger Goodell: USA Football will select Olympic flag football rosters, not NFL
While the NFL has approved active players to participate in the 2028 Summer Olympic flag football tournament in Los Angeles, commissioner Roger Goodell made it clear that the NFL will not determine which players will compete for the United States. Rather, Goodell said during last week's meeting of league owners, the roster selection will come down to a separate group: USA Football. 'That's actually a function of USA Football that will be making that decision,' Goodell said. 'The NFL will not have any involvement in that selection process.' According to USA Football bylaws, Goodell will appoint three individuals to the 15-member board with at least two of them serving on the five-person executive committee. This all comes just a few days after NFL owners unanimously voting in favor of allowing active players to compete in flag football at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. No more than one player from each NFL team will be able to participate in the games, which will feature six men's teams and six women's teams consisting of 10 players apiece. 'I know first-hand that the inclusion of flag football in the Olympics has sparked a tremendous amount of excitement among NFL players interested in the chance to compete for their country on the world stage,' Goodell said at the time. 'We are thrilled that they will now have that chance.' The 2028 Summer Games are scheduled to take place from July 14-30, 2028. NFL players generally are off from mid-June until the start of training camp in late July. Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved
NBC Sports
25-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Roger Goodell: USA Football will select Olympic team, not the NFL
The NFL has cleared the way for active players to participate in the 2028 Olympic flag football tournament. Many questions remain, culminating in the determination of the names of the players who will be loaned to the effort. On that point, Commissioner Roger Goodell made it clear in a session with reporters at this week's ownership meeting that the picking of the players won't be an NFL issue. 'That's actually a function of USA Football that will be making that decision,' Goodell said. 'The NFL will not have any involvement in that selection process.' But the NFL will have indirect involvement, because the NFL has direct involvement in USA Football. USA Football bylaws require Goodell (with the use of the all-important legal term 'shall') to appoint three members to the board, with at least two of Goodell's appointees serving on the executive committee. The current board, based on the USA Football website, includes Packers CEO Mark Murphy and Colts COO Pete Ward. It's unclear whether Goodell has appointed a third member of the existing board of directors. It's unclear in part because, although the bylaws mandate 15 board members, the USA Football website shows only 11 members. Unless there are four other board members who haven't made it to the website, USA Football isn't in compliance with its bylaws on the fairly key question of the mandated number of directors. Also, because the USA Football website shows that two of the board members (Pete Chiarelli and Dr. Gerard Gioia) have terms that expired in 2024, it's also fair to ask whether the website needs to be updated. Although the bylaws limit the term for each director to three years, Murphy and Ward show 'N/A' as the year when their terms end. This implies that their appointments are open-ended. That also doesn't mesh with the USA Football bylaws, which specifies three-year terms and limits all directors to two consecutive terms. (There is no limit to the number of non-consecutive terms a board member may serve.) Moving forward, it makes sense to pay very close attention to the machinations of USA Football. Although Goodell says the NFL will have no involvement in the process of selecting the Olympic team, the board members surely will have significant influence in the overall process. And those spots on the 15-member USA Football board of directors and five-member USA Football executive committee have suddenly become plum and potentially powerful assignments. Working with Hallenbeck (whom the executive committee has the power to throw overboard, if they want), they'll be coming up with the procedure for selecting the 2028 men's flag football team. Goodell, who controls three board seats and 40 percent of the executive committee, absolutely has indirect influence over the formulation of the overall selection process and, in turn, how the 2028 Olympics roster is built. Regardless of how it plays out, the sudden spike in relevance and responsibility for USA Football requires the group to button up its business, quickly. Based on the information currently on the group's website, it appears that multiple i's haven't been dotted and t's haven't been crossed. Now that flag football will be an Olympic event with active NFL players eligible to participate, USA Football will undergo unprecedented scrutiny. As evidenced by the fact that a fairly cursory comparison of the contents of the bylaws and the information on the website raises multiple questions and reveals multiple potential flaws.
NBC Sports
23-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Who'll coach the U.S. men's Olympic flag football team?
With active NFL players now cleared to play flag football in the 2028 Olympics, plenty of questions remain. Here's one: Who will coach a team made up of pro football players? We've already heard from one head coach who is interested in doing it. Others could be, too. The coach gets a gold medal, too. When the Olympics accepted NBA players for the first time in 1992, NBA head coach Chuck Daly led the team. But international basketball is basically the same game. Five-on-five flag football is not the same as 11-on-11 tackle. Jorge Cascudo and assistant coach Patrick Alley currently lead the U.S. men's national flag football team. Both are entering their fourth year on the job. Cascudo is a long-time flag football player and coach. But he's never dealt with the unique task of earning and retaining the respect of NFL athletes. If NFL players are going to be horning in on turf currently occupied by long-time flag football players, why wouldn't NFL coaches be interested in leading the charge? If not a current NFL coach, how about a certain six-time Super Bowl-winning coach who'll likely otherwise never have a chance to coach NFL players again? It's just another of the many questions USA Football (and the NFL) will have to answer, now that the league has decided to dip a toe in Olympic waters.
