By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES, March 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. flag football team proved flag football and tackle football require different skill sets as the national team crushed two teams stocked with NFL players to win the first Flag Football Classic on Saturday in Los Angeles.
The event, originally scheduled to be held in Riyadh but moved due to the Iran war, was an effort to promote flag football, which will make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028.
Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion who retired from the NFL three years ago, was at the helm of the Founders FFC, and got a roar from the crowd when he completed a two-point conversion to former New England and Tampa Bay teammate Rob Gronkowski early in the first game.
But Brady and teammates including Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and Gronkowski, who left with a hamstring injury, were no match for a motivated Team USA and quarterback Darrell Doucette.
Team USA used their superior speed to feast on offense, cruising to victory in their two round-robin games in the three-team tournament before beating the Joe Burrow-led Wildcats FCC 24-14 in the more competitive final.
The event served as a test-run for the LA Games, where flag football will make its Olympic debut at BMO Stadium in LA’s Exposition Park in just over two years time.
With a smaller field than the one used for NFL games, organizers were able to turn large swaths of the field into full-service VIP areas and the event had the spirit of an exhibition, with YouTuber-turned-WWE wrestler Logan Paul playing for the Wildcats.
But perhaps due to the last-minute location shuffle and a heat wave blanketing LA, the stadium was less than full.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Michael Perry)
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