By Michael Preston
One of Brazil’s defensive standouts Edmar Dos Santos offered a unique viewpoint of flag football while competing at the IFAF Americas Championship at the start of July.
A dual citizen and first-generation American born to Brazilian parents in Orlando, Florida, Dos Santos has witnessed the growth of the sport he now plays internationally both in North and South America. He believes the nation of his ancestors boasts the athletes and the enthusiasm to one day challenge for honors on the world stage.
“Flag Football is a true community and it’s a lot bigger and stronger than people in Brazil might be aware,” he says. “It’s one big family Everyone immediately becomes your brother, all of the coaches are like dads to us and it’s a sport that’s exciting.
“You don’t have to play soccer just because you’re Brazilian! Flag football is fast, it’s explosive and I encourage all the younger generation to give it a shot. If you like basketball, defensive flag football is the same thing. If you like soccer, you can rush all day.”
Dos Santos played tackle football at high school in Orlando and having initially walked on at UCF, accepted offers to play college football in Bethel University in Tennessee and Graceland University in Iowa. At 33 years old he had decided to hang up his cleats until his wife encouraged him to pursue an opportunity to represent the Seleção.
“In 2021 I saw there was the flag football World Championships and I saw Team USA and I wondered if Brazil had a team,” he explained. “I felt I was done with football, but I sent them some film, spoke to the coaches, went to Brazil and tried out and I made the team.”
Brazil’s men had finished in 17th place finish on their IFAF Flag Football World Championships debut in Israel in 2021 and came out on top when hosting fellow South American nations, a year later. To select a competitive roster for the inaugural Americas continental tournament, the rapidly growing domestic leagues were scouted, players submitted highlights, and an initial 50 players were selected for a training camp in Brazil. Film of those sessions were reviewed and the squad number was whittled down to 25 and then to the final 12 who traveled to North Carolina, plus two in reserve.
While Brazil considered upsetting the dominant United States and Mexico a bridge too far and knew that the more experienced Canadians and Panamanians presented a tough challenge, they set their sights on topping the trio of South American entrants. On the final day of competition, the outcome of what was effectively a round robin played between Argentina, Brazil and Chile in pursuit of fifth place overall could hardly have been closer.
Playing without their starting quarterback, Brazil lost 26-18 to Chile who were in turn defeated by Argentina by a score of 25-19. That set up a potential winner takes all game, and although Brazil outlasted Argentina 27-24, the fact each team posted a 1-1 record in the placement games called for a tiebreaker. Chile just edged the decision with a plus 2-points differential, Argentina finished on minus-3 and Brazil on minus-5. It was that close.
“We wanted to continue to be the number one team in the region as we had been last year,” explained Edmar. “We did take a loss against Chile. They were strong and took advantage in the moments and they capitalized, but we came back strong and beat Argentina by three at the very end. Both games came down to the wire.
“We’re still learning the sport and the athleticism that’s required for flag football, whether it’s the speed, the agility or the football IQ which a lot of guys have but once we went up against USA and Mexico, we appreciated the level that those guys are at.”
Next in the sights of the Brazilian national team is the IFAF World Championship in Finland, where the opportunity to participate and be a part of the evolving flag football family is as important as the will to win. Rivals on the field, the athletes became strong allies once they crossed back over the sidelines.
“Everyone wants to be number one but as long as we get better each and every tournament and we enjoy playing, that’s the goal, eventually we’ll get to that spot,” says Edmar. “One of the guys from Argentina wants to trade jerseys with me, we were taking photos with the USA guys. Against Panama we were barking at each other on the field, but then afterwards it was all hugs and love. When we’re in the cafeteria or working out, we’re taking about the game and exchanging ideas, trying to help each other. We invited them to our country and say we’ll show them around if they ever visit Brazil. The camaraderie is great.”
Brazil will take those sentiments and the lessons learned on the field with them to their next opportunity to take on the world.
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