Joe Flacco is finally receiving his due. But he can’t return to Browns next year
Ohio’s BEREA There will be no sympathy for Joe Flacco. In his career, he has made over $175 million and won the MVP award in the Super Bowl. He’s succeeding in life.
However, still…
Watching this amazing last-chapter comeback, there’s something about Flacco’s 16 years in the NFL that has been bothering me. In his heyday, he was consistently good but never quite outstanding.
Though Tony Romo, Derek Carr, and Carson Wentz all won MVP awards, he never did.
Not even once did he play in a Pro Bowl. He was once invited, but declined as his wife was about to give birth to their third kid.
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Much of the Baltimore fan base liked him and still does, but Hall of Famers like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed always took center stage. For his Super Bowl ring, that Ravens defense still usually takes the lion’s share of praise.
Because of this, nothing about what’s happening here seems credible; not even an NFL or Hollywood scriptwriter could have written it this way. A quarterback going through this kind of fire who hasn’t been good in ten years? throwing for more than 300 yards in three straight games for the first time in his career; since joining the Browns as a starter in Week 13, he has led the league in passing yards and tied for the lead in touchdown passes during that stretch.
Once more, he is encircled by a strong defense, but at this point, nobody but Myles Garrett is on a gold jacket track. Flacco is just Flacco, as he always has been. He is the mature, professional person who simply goes about his work in silence. There’s no drama, no controversy cloud. Every day he just turns up, goes to work, and does his responsibilities.
Even though Flacco is nearing the end of his career and lives in a place where fans hate anything related to the Baltimore Ravens, he has managed to win over the hearts of those who are yearning for love. This is Jeter getting a standing ovation in Boston, or Rocky getting applause in Russia.
“The city has exceeded expectations. I have nothing but praise for how kind everyone is.
Flacco ought to go around the track slowly if this is his career winning lap. Accept everything. No matter how this plays out, he has accomplished enough to go on as a folk hero in Cleveland forever. The same energy that fills the arenas when Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson play for the Cavaliers and Rajai Davis plays for the Guardians will be directed at him when he returns. He has exceeded expectations in part because there were none when he came, even without participating in a postseason game. Here, his three victories in four games equal the sum of his four years as a starting NFL player.
Flacco was 3-14 in 17 NFL starts with Denver and New York after leaving Baltimore. 3-1 for him in Cleveland.
Make it
I believed youngster Dorian Thompson-Robinson should continue as the starting quarterback when they signed Flacco. Flacco appeared to be little more than a backup quarterback for a club that has called 911 frequently this season, given his track record and statistics since leaving Baltimore and the fact that no team picked him up during the first 12 weeks of the season.
Following Thompson-Robinson’s concussion in Denver, Flacco started performing above and beyond everyone’s expectations, to the point that he is currently doing too well. It seems unlikely that the Browns could get him back the following season. Would they truly like to give quarterbacks three slots on the 53-man roster? Is Flacco gonna get a few million dollars in
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