Team USA's flag football team won the Fanatics Flag Football Classic and each player was each rewarded a hefty sum of prize money for defeating Tom Brady and Joe Burrow
11:06 ET, 24 Mar 2026
Team USA flag football stars Jorge Cascudo, Darrell Doucette III, Aamir Brown and Nico Casares lift the trophy
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Team USA players will take home six figures each for winning the Fanatics Flag Football Classic(Image: Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images for OBB Media - FANATICS STUDIOS)
Team USA flag football players are each taking home a six-figure check after outdueling their NFL counterparts at the Fanatics Flag Football Classic.
Team USA, whose squad consisted of full-time flag football players, took home the title at the Los Angeles-based event by going undefeated in three games against NFL stars, including Tom Brady and Joe Burrow.
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Brady, who took the field for the first time since his retirement from the NFL in 2023, showed what he has left in the tank after making his 2028 Olympic plans clear.
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According to Front Office Sports, each Team USA player will receive $100,000 for winning the Fanatics Flag Football Classic.
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While it pales in comparison to what NFL stars make from each game in the pros – a total that can exceed seven figures for the quarterbacks with the biggest contracts – it is a hefty chunk of change for a group of players looking to fight for gold at the 2028 Olympics, where flag football will debut for the first time ever.
Quarterback Darrell ‘Housh’ Doucette was named tournament MVP after scoring six total touchdowns (three passing, three rushing) and accruing 222 total yards across the three contests.
In total, Team USA outscored Founders FFC, led by Brady, and Wildcats FFC, led by Burrow, by a combined score of 106-44.
The three teams participated in a round-robin format, playing each other one time before the top two squads faced off in the championship game.
Team USA running back Amir Brown, quarterback Darrell Housh Doucette III stand at the coin toss with Wildcats quarterback Jayden Daniels and quarterback Joe Burrow
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Team USA won all three games at the Fanatics Flag Football Classic by double-digits(Image: Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
After Team USA bested Burrow’s Wildcats, coached by the San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan and featuring NFL stars like Davante Adams, Derwin James Jr., and Jalen Ramsey, by a final score of 39-14 in the opener, they trounced Brady’s squad, including Ashton Jeanty and DeVonta Smith, 43-16 in the second game.
In the championship, Team USA once again got the better of the Wildcats, 24-14, despite Shanahan making coaching adjustments to slow the game down.
The classic was originally supposed to be played at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but was rescheduled for BMO Stadium in Los Angeles due to the ongoing Iran War.
With flag football set to debut at the 2028 Olympics, some NFL stars, including a few who participated over the weekend, have expressed hopes of being named to the American team to compete for a gold medal.
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If the Fanatics Flag Football Classic proved anything, it is that the rules, style of play, and strategy of flag football are drastically different from those in the NFL.
Team USA’s mastery of the rules allowed them to outduel teams full of NFL superstars and all-world athletes. Meanwhile, many of the NFL players involved were penalized for infractions such as blocking when they were not supposed to or struggling to rip the flag away from Team USA’s ball carriers.
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Meanwhile, the world’s tallest basketball player headed home from March Madness after his coach’s outburst.