With one team boasting a seven-time Super Bowl winner as its quarterback, and the other possessing a litany of NFL names such as Saquon Barkley and Joe Burrow, this year’s Fanatics Flag Football Classic figured to be a rough outing for the nation’s official flag football team. In a bit of a twist, or spin move, however, it proved to be the two rosters that were predominantly composed of NFL talent that struggled the most.
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Despite their championship experience, Brady’s Founders FFC ultimately went 0-2 on the day. Their first loss was a 43-16 thrashing by Team USA, and while their 34-26 loss to the Wildcats saw a much more spirited effort, it was clear that they simply didn’t have the tools to compete on the day.
“My heart is hurting right now,” Brady admitted after the lopsided loss to the men’s national team. “My heart is really hurting. We’re like a leaky faucet. We don’t have enough short throws.”
Seeing as Brady was able to connect with Stefon Diggs on a massive downfield play to open up the festivities scoring, many had begun to assume that the rest of the contest would be nothing but a formality. After the Founders were able to take control of that early lead, however, Team USA would proceed to rattle off 43 consecutive points, stunning both the masses and NFL legends alike.
🐐 @TomBrady to Diggs! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/27dzqn84Oa
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) March 21, 2026
In the end, perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise to hear that the nation’s official flag football team ended up winning the flag football tournament. The Fanatics Market listed them as the odds on favorites to win the event, and while that clearly didn’t earn them much respect, the scoreboards most certainly did.
Across the three games that they played, Team USA managed to outscore their opponents by a combined total of 106-44. All three of their wins came by double digits, proving Darrell Doucette’s assertion that “This is our sport” was always correct.
"This is our sport."
Darrell Doucette reacts to Team USA winning gold. @yo_everything
📺: IFAF Flag Football World Championships on https://t.co/Zxc6Eo1EVL and https://t.co/oH85bo4Hci pic.twitter.com/1ySFLT4Rv3
— NFL (@NFL) August 30, 2024
“I know there’s a lot of talk about it,” Doucette stated in reference to the ongoing debate about who should represent the U.S. in flag football in the 2028 Olympics. “We already showed what we can do. We’re going to have the same type of hunger every year… We feel like we are the pros, and whoever wants to come out for competition, we’re looking forward to it.”
Suffice to say, it may not have been the result that casual football fans were expecting or hoping for, but the United States was still seemingly able to find its core group of representatives for the Olympic games, making the entire event an overall win for both the nation and its gridiron enthusiasts.




