Team USA wins inaugural Fanatics Flag Football Classic

Tackle football is very different from flag football.

Current and former NFL players found that out on Saturday, against the U.S. men’s national flag football team.

Team USA went 3-0 against the pair of hand-picked teams of pro players (with a smattering of non-football players) to win the inaugural Fanatics Flag Football Classic. Darrell “Housh” Doucette III was named the tournament MVP.

The flag football players romped in the round-robin version of the event, beating the Wildcats, 39-16, and the Founders, 43-16. The Wildcats outscored the Founders in the other preliminary game, 34-26, setting up a rematch between the Wildcats and Team USA for the championship. (Tom Brady’s team went 0-2 on the day.)

In the final game, the Wildcats kept it close, losing 24-14.

Still, it was clear throughout the day that the NFL players lack the knowledge of the flag football rules and the skills necessary to master that specific brand of the game.

And the NFL players didn’t have much time to prepare. As Fox’s Greg Olsen described it at one point, they had a pair of “half-assed walkthroughs” this week.

There’s also something to be said for recruiting NFL players based not on name recognition but skillset. And there’s value in practicing.

But most current players are focused on their main occupations. Former NFL players could more aggressively throw themselves into the process of understanding the game.

Even then, there’s a gap between the guys who play flag football on a regular basis and those who don’t. It will give the folks at USA Football even more to think about as the 2028 Olympics approach.

For now, it’s a no-brainer: The flag football players should be the ones to represent the country.

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