Former New York Giants defensive back Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was one of the better cornerbacks in the league during his time in the NFL. Now, with his NFL career in the rearview mirror, DRC has kept his competitive juices flowing by playing in the American Flag Football League.
Rodgers-Cromartie sat down with Giants Wire this week to talk about his time in the AFFL. DRC plays for the Kings of Florida and used to play flag football during his NFL offseasons.
This is DRC’s first year in the league but if his excitement is any indication of his plans, don’t expect him to be one-and-done in the AFFL.
Rodgers-Cromartie is one of a handful of former NFL players in the AFFL, including Michael Vick, Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Vince Young and Danny Wuerffel, among others.
AFFL CEO Jeff Lewis sees the trend of former NFL players moving on the flag football continuing in the future.
“It’s very common to find that NFL guys are playing flag,” Lewis said. “Just to compete and just to get a rise and it’s happening all over. You’d be surprised like I remember I went to a tournament and there was a little 4-on-4 game going on and there’s a guy in his defensive crouch and I’m like ‘that guy looks a lot like Devin Hester’ and they were like ‘that’s because it is.'”
DRC did admit he does actively try to recruit former teammates of his from his time in the NFL.
“I definitely recruit guys because the more I’ve been getting into this game,” Rodgers-Cromartie told Giants Wire. “The more I learn about the strategy and how it works. So my main thing is I’m a defender and you’ve always gotta have speed. So I’m always recruiting DBs (defensive backs).”
Rodgers-Cromartie specifically mentioned Charles James, who was a teammate of DRC’s during his time with Big Blue
“I try to recruit all the speed guys that can cover. In this league, you need guys that can cover but if you can’t pull the flag, it don’t even matter,” he said.
Recently, Rodgers-Cromartie made a pretty sick catch you can see here:
The AFFL is growing every year and are currently entering their fourth year of operations and the first season of the women’s division. Both the men’s and women’s divisions have $200,000 prizes for the championship-winning team.
DRC and his teammates on the Kings of Florida will be in action this weekend, Saturday, August 14, against Your Tax Gurus at 9:00 a.m. EDT in the quarterfinals. The game can be viewed on Facebook along with the rest of the AFFL’s quarterfinal action.
CBS Sports Network will be broadcasting the semifinals on Sunday and if DRC’s squad moves on from the quarterfinals, they will play in the Semis at 6:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, August 15.
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