Joe Flacco, Browns on improbable run since QB took over as starter, veteran embracing the moment

CLEVELAND — Steve Flacco has seen his son be a first-round draft pick, then go play in three AFC Championship Games, then win a Super Bowl and be named the MVP of the game and ultimately become the highest-paid player in NFL history.

Thursday night, seated in luxury field seats at Cleveland Browns Stadium, the elder Flacco saw his son lift the former rival Browns to a playoff berth. Steve watched as Flacco gave generous time postgame to Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” crew, and then as his son invited his own five children onto the field for photos.

Browns fans who stuck around a half-hour after watching their team beat the Jets 37-20 in Week 17 serenaded Flacco with chants, first with his surname and, later, “M-V-P.” But those in the 130s sections had the emotional intelligence to quieten down as Flacco went over to his parents in the stands to share a few minutes with them on his improbable journey. And that’s when his dad told him something that surprised him even a bit.

“My dad just said, ‘I think it’s the happiest I’ve ever seen you on a football field,'” Flacco told me moments later as we walked off the field together. “That’s literally what he just said to me. It’s definitely been a few years.”

Less than two months ago, Flacco was working out at a New Jersey youth field, staying prepared for a call that may never come. As quarterback injuries piled up around the league, seemingly everyone but the 38-year-old got a call.

Flacco was 3-14 as a starter ever since Lamar Jackson took his job midway through the 2018 season. He was in some bad situations — first in Denver and then three years in the doldrums of Florham Park — but it wasn’t altogether surprising that no one rostered Flacco to begin the 2023 season.

So if the Browns are being honest, they signed Flacco in late November hoping that he could keep their playoff dreams alive with a quarter of the team’s salary cap…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/joe-flacco-browns-on-improbable-run-since-qb-took-over-as-starter-veteran-embracing-the-moment/

Author : Jonathan Jones

Publish date : 2023-12-29 15:06:50

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