“I Know the Game”: U.S. Flag Football Captain Doubles Down After Claiming He’s “Better” Than Patrick Mahomes

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After U.S. Flag Football team quarterback Derrell Doucette said that he was “better” than Patrick Mahomes, he quickly realized that his words carried weight, as the media wasted no time turning his comments into a major story. But to his credit, Doucette never expected his remarks about Mahomes to become one of the biggest headlines at the time, largely because he was unaware that his entire conversation with TMZ Sports was being recorded.

Now, the 36-year-old flag football quarterback has revealed what really happened before he made those remarks

“I didn’t even know I was being recorded,” Doucette revealed on the In the Bayou With Tyrann Mathieu podcast. “I was just, I had a trust factor where somebody I knew was like, ‘Hey, my boy from TMZ won’t holler at you.’ Just like it, and I was like, ‘Alright, cool.’ So, then he texted me, he’s like, ‘Hey bro, let’s get on a Zoom call real quick.’ So, I’m like, all right. So, we’re just talking. And my lesson learned was, are we going on the record or off the record?

“And that was my moment when I learned that. But he was never like, ‘Okay, we’re on the record.’ He just recorded the whole conversation. So, when he asked me, ‘Do you feel like, because we’re going through all the things,’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, because I know the game. It’s not about his ability. I know the game, I understand everything about this game. And that was why I said what I said. It was never about me, actually, like making better throws.”

After it was announced that the National U.S. Flag Football Team would be participating in the 2028 Summer Olympics, many NFL players expressed their interest in playing for the country. However, Doucette pushed back against the idea. According to The Guardian‘s Ramon Antonio Vargas, he felt disrespectful about high-profile players potentially taking the flag football players’ spot.

“I think it’s disrespectful that they just automatically assume that they’re able to just join the Olympic team because of the person that they are – they didn’t help grow this game to get to the Olympics. Give the guys who helped this game get to where it’s at their respect,” Doucette said.

While he acknowledged the fact that the NFL players want to get out and win the Gold Medal for the country, he pointed out that the flag football players don’t want to be forgotten about because they made this sport to reach where it is now.

And when asked whether he wants the NFL players to go through the process and try out for a team, Doucette acknowledged that he and his players aren’t running from the competition, and he didn’t feel like he’s the best quarterback, and he’s competing against Mahomes.

At the same time, however, Doucette admitted that he felt like he was better than Mahomes.

“At the end of the day, I feel like I’m better than Patrick Mahomes because of my 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 told TMZ Sports.

Doucette is a professional flag football player and has been playing quarterback for the U.S. national flag football team. At the same time, he has also been the MVP of the International Federation of American Football flag football championship. And considering the NFL is a bit different from flag football, it’s tough to argue that Doucette was wrong.

But things escalated when his comments became public. Subsequently, Mahomes also responded to Doucette’s comments, albeit indirectly. The Kansas City Chiefs‘ quarterback didn’t release any official statement and shared a GIF of rapper 50 Cent, which read, “What he say f*** me for?”

Fast forward to March 2026, and after the US Flag Football team faced multiple teams of NFL players in the Fanatics Flag Football event, Doucette admitted that his comments toward the NFL players and Mahomes were misconstrued.

Darrell Doucette defends his remarks on Patrick Mahomes

Per The Athletic’s Tim Graham and Vic Tafur, Darrell Doucette reflected on the comments that he made toward Patrick Mahomes in 2024. The 36-year-old noted:

“I made some remarks that was totally misconstrued and misunderstood. All I was speaking of was about giving my brothers a fair chance to make (the Summer Olympics in) 2028. We came out this weekend with that on our mind to say, ‘Let’s show these guys that we are talented, that we are flag football and not to be overlooked by anyone in the world.”

At the same time, however, the 2026 Fanatics Flag Football Classic event between the U.S. Flag Football team and the NFL players proved Doucette’s remarks true. To put that into perspective, the U.S. team won the event 3-0 against the NFL professional players and celebrities, with a combined score of 106-44. Doucette, meanwhile, was named the event’s MVP.

And now, the national flag football team has its sights set on the 2028 Summer Olympics. Whether any NFL players will ultimately participate remains to be seen.

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