Team USA won the Fanatics Flag Football Classic this past weekend. They took on two teams with current and former NFL players and beat them by a combined score of 106-44 across three contests. It caught everyone off guard, including NFL pass rusher Maxx Crosby, who was watching the tournament live at home.
In reaction to the games, Crosby was in awe of Team USA. If you didn’t know, he’s super excited about flag football’s debut in the Olympics and is even considering playing for Team Serbia at the LA Games in 2028. He thinks the US will win the competition, but originally expected that to be because of NFL players being on their side.
However, Crosby, along with the rest of us, was more impressed with Team USA’s flag football players than the NFL players taking them on during the tourni.
“Those flag football players. The one dude that, bro, his a** was on the ground on his heels, weaving through traffic. That sh*t was crazy. But, that sh*t was dope,” Crosby said on his podcast, The Rush.
The play Crosby referenced came during the Team USA vs. Wildcats FFC game. A receiver from Team USA caught a pass and, to avoid defenders pulling his flags, dropped low to the ground and weaved through traffic. He stayed on his heels while slipping past two defenders, showing off incredible agility. It’s the kind of move you wouldn’t see in the NFL, where a defender would simply make the hit.
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All in all, Crosby walked away from the tournament impressed. “In the grand scheme of things, bro, that team, the USA team. Like, the guys that are actually flag football players. Those dudes are impressive, bro. I’ll give them their flowers. Because I don’t think anybody thought they were going to go out there and actually win,” he said.
Absolutely nobody expected Team USA to win the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. NFL fans were expecting the current and former stars to thoroughly demolish the flag football specialists, but the exact opposite happened. We were quickly reminded that flag football and tackle football are two different sports.
Later on, Crosby mentioned that no receiver in the NFL could tiptoe through the defense like the Team USA player did.
“Yeah, there’s no way, bro. Think about it. Ja’Marr Chase is what? 210? 215? Like, in the NFL, you’ve gotta carry muscle to be able to move a certain way. It’s different. Those dudes are scrawny and moving crazy,” Crosby noted.
It makes sense because in the NFL, players get hit. To withstand the hits and build up durability, players work out and put on muscle. Meanwhile, in the flag football league, the opposite is taught to keep players nimble and spry. This doesn’t mean that they don’t work out, but they focus more on staying lean.
Regardless of how flat the NFL players looked, though, Crosby still had a good time watching guys like Tom Brady, Odell Beckham Jr. and Stefon Diggs.
“You got D-Hop, Stefon Diggs, Davante [Adams], and OBJ. Like, those 4 dudes are arguably the 4 most influential receivers of this generation… It was dope, bro. You had Brady out there slinging the rock, dodging sacks, throwing touchdowns. It was crazy,” Crosby said.
However, the edge rusher did make a joke about Joe Burrow and what the Bengals QB put on display.
“Burrow was out there scrambling for his life. I kept seeing him on the ground. I’m like, Joe, you know they’re calling, like, ‘Get him off the field,’” Crosby joked.
In case you missed it, Burrow took several spills during the Fanatics event over the weekend. Every single one sent a scare into the Cincinnati Bengals fanbase. For a guy who’s dealt with many injuries throughout his career, it was surprising to see him out there.
At the end of it all, Crosby was genuinely impressed by Team USA’s performance. He thought it was a cool event that the NFL orchestrated, and he could see them pushing to normalize it in the future. It’ll be interesting to see if he ever wants to try it out as a pass rusher.
The post ‘Ja’marr Chase Cannot Move Like That’: Maxx Crosby Weighs In on Team USA’s Flag Football Classic Performance appeared first on The SportsRush.
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