All the U.S. flag football star wanted to do in an interview that went more viral than any of his numerous highlights was to fight for his sport.
So when he told TMZ in 2024 that he is “better than Patrick Mahomes” at flag football for his IQ of the sport, the generally soft-spoken Doucette wasn’t trying to issue any challenges. Watch the two-time world champion throw touchdowns, catch them, snap the ball and play defense all in the same game and it’s clear he prefers to let his game speak.
“It wasn’t about me vs. them,” said Doucette, who is known in the flag football world by his nickname “Housh.” “It was about flag football, putting eyes on this game.”
With preparations ramping up for the 2028 Olympics, flag football just wants its respect.
Respect for the sport that is no longer just a child’s stepping stone to tackle football.
Respect for its established players who have already won every tournament there is and have eyes for more.
“It’s not your mom’s flag football anymore,” said Callie Brownson, USA Football’s senior director of high performance and national team operations.
Flag football has graduated out of backyards and into the Olympics, where the sport will debut in L.A. More than 750 athletes from 10 countries from the youth level to senior national teams gathered at Dignity Health Sports Park last weekend to preview the Olympic future at USA Football’s Summer Series, where the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams played friendlies against Canada, Australia, Germany and Japan.
The sport’s growth domestically and internationally came in part through major investment from the NFL, and the league could play a major role in the Olympics: NFL players are allowed to participate in Olympic competition. It feels like all he ever wanted.
“We’re welcoming those guys,” Doucette said. We want those guys to come out and learn because there’s things that we’re going to need to teach them … and there’s things that they can teach us. It’s us together as one teaching each other.”
Olympic flag football is played with five players per side on a 50-by-25-yard field. When the former Texas Tech receiver was learning the sport, he was stunned when defenders still pulled his flag after what he believed were his best moves. He had to learn flag football’s unique hip dips and flips to keep his flags away from defenders.
The adjustment on defense could be even more difficult. Defenders cannot hinder an opposing player’s forward progress. The NFL’s most mundane hand-check would draw a penalty in flag football.
“The athletic ability of an NFL player, I’m not questioning,” said defensive back Mike Daniels, a former cornerback at West Virginia. Even preparations to learn the new sport and practice its unique schemes would take valuable offseason time away from NFL players.
Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley was ready to burst into patriotic song at the mention of representing the United States in the Olympics, but when reminded that he might have to miss part of training camp for it, he backed off immediately. He spoke directly into a video camera to assure Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh that the job that pays him $5.4 million on a four-year rookie contract is all he needs.
USA Football has remained in contact with the NFL about how to integrate professionals, said Brownson, who worked for the Cleveland Browns for five seasons, including three as the assistant wide receivers coach. With the Games still three years away, USA Football is focused on keeping doors open to all prospects and offering educational opportunities for potential players to become familiar with flag football.
“The cool thing about our process is when you come out to trials, there is no name on the back of your jersey,” Brownson said. … We’ll just be excited to have the best team that we could but I always do and will always stand up for who we currently field.
“They’re the best flag football players in the world, both men and women, and they deserve their flowers, too.”
The U.S. men’s national team is the five-time defending International Federation of American Football IFAF world champions. The U.S. women have won three consecutive IFAF world championships and the 2023 continental title while finishing second at the 2022 World Games.
Krouch has become an international flag football star after a four-year basketball career at Southern Methodist. Examining talent transfers from other sports has helped strengthen the USA Football athlete pipeline as the organization researches the best qualities for flag football.
Baseball and softball players who can whip passes from odd arm angles can thrive in a game that features multiple quarterbacks. While the NFL’s 40-yard dash is the premier test for speed, it may be less valuable in flag football, Brownson said. The perfect flag football player combines that straight-line speed with quickness.
“There’s such an art and a craft and a different style of dance that we do,” Krouch said. “I say tackle football is like hip hop, krump dancing. It’s finesse, it’s clean, it’s creative.”
The quarterback served as an offensive coordinator in the 2023 NFL Pro Bowl, the first version of the All-Star game to feature a flag football format. Leading the NFC team to victory, Krouch loved sharing flag football’s unique route combinations. She noticed how the NFL’s best showed their respect for her sport by enthusiastically learning the different nuances.
The Pro Bowl experience was one of many surreal moments for Krouch in her nearly two-decade career of playing flag football. She never thought this sport she sometimes teaches in her elementary physical education classes could become this big.
The announcement that flag football would officially debut in the 2028 Olympics brought it to even greater heights. No question Krouch wants to play in the Games.
But the competition at tryouts every year gets 10 times harder, two-time national team member Ashlea Klam said. The 19-year-old plays flag football on a scholarship for NAIA-level Keiser University and recognizes no one is guaranteed a spot each year as the talent pool grows. It will be even more difficult to make the 10-person Olympic roster.
As each year’s tryouts get more competitive, Doucette sees his hope for the sport coming true. “That’s my goal is still to be there, in general, no matter if I’m playing or watching.”,
