(Sports Network) - At halftime of the Pro Bowl, Joe Flacco surely looked the
part.
In fact, as the newly-minted 28-year-old (his birthday was Jan. 16) bantered
casually with NBC host Dan Patrick, it was hard to imagine a time he'd been
regarded as anything other than the cool playoff assassin who'd taken down
guys named Manning and Brady on the previous two Sundays.
But just five years ago this April, he was anything but.
Back then, even as the Baltimore Ravens' brass held a jersey in front of him
and claimed he'd been the player -- plucked at spot No. 18 in the NFL Draft --
that they'd wanted all along, not everyone in the audience was buying the
premise of a Delaware Blue Hen-turned-pro football star.
"Some teams have been burned by some small-college kids who haven't
transitioned well," said ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. "They're very conservative about
taking a chance."
The basic cable guru had Flacco positioned no better than third on his 2008
quarterback prospect board; lumping him alongside Michigan's Chad Henne and
behind both Boston College's Matt Ryan and Louisville's Brian Brohm.
As it turned out, Ryan went to the Atlanta Falcons with the third overall
selection.
Brohm was chosen 56th overall by the Buffalo Bills.
And Henne was gone one pick later at No. 57, courtesy of the Miami Dolphins.
None of those three -- nor the aforementioned Manning and Brady -- will be on
the field this Sunday in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII.
But Flacco, thanks to Baltimore's 28-13 win at New England in the AFC
Championship Game, will.
"I really don't care (about the doubters)," he said. "There are guys out there
that have got to make a living on hating on somebody. If that's going to be
us, if that's going to be me, then I plan on being around for a while. And if
you want to continue to do it, I'll be here."
As for his 2008 colleagues, they're having their own concerns these days.
Brohm never made an impact in two seasons with the Bills, losing a pair of
starts among three appearances in 2009 and 2010. He was last seen toiling in
2012 for something called the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL as a backup to
starter Chase Clement.
Henne arrived in South Florida and showed early promise, but the relationship
with the Dolphins soured as his record sagged to 13-18 and ultimately led to
his not being re-signed for 2012. He landed up the coast in Jacksonville and
was 1-5 for the Jaguars in relief of injured incumbent Blaine Gabbert.
Ryan is 56-22 in 78 regular-season games since being anointed Atlanta's post-
Vick messiah, but his 1-4 record in the postseason -- including a home-field
loss in this month's NFC Championship Game -- has revived the whispers that
"Matty Ice" remains a September-to-December commodity.
As they all tune in Sunday, Flacco will become the second Delaware alum
(following Rich Gannon in 2003) to quarterback a team in the Super Bowl. Only
three other ex-Blue Hens -- Jeff Komlo (1979-83), Scott Brunner (1980-85) and
Andy Hall (2005) -- have taken snaps in the NFL at all.
"To have this opportunity is pretty cool," he said. "There are a lot of people
in this league that can't say they've ever gotten to this point, so it
definitely feels good to get here. I think it's just one of those things you
dream of when you are a little kid. You watch Joe Montana and those guys light
them up in the Super Bowl. So to be here at this point is pretty special."
Flacco's journey to Baltimore, where he's now won an NFL-record (for
quarterbacks) eight road playoff games, was actually far less direct than a
simple No. 18 selection would indicate.
The Ravens began draft day in the No. 8 slot, but their affection for Ryan
prompted talks with St. Louis for a possible move up to No. 2.
The negotiations soured when the Rams demanded first-, second- and fourth-
rounders in return, and, after Ryan went third to Atlanta, Baltimore traded
that eighth position for Jacksonville's No. 26 pick, two third-rounders and a
fourth-rounder, with hopes of landing Flacco.
Then, upon hearing of the New York Jets' interest in their man, the Ravens
shipped a third-rounder and a sixth-rounder to Houston to get back to No. 18
overall, where the 6-foot-6 Audubon, N.J. native became head coach John
Harbaugh's first draft choice after he succeeded Brian Billick.
One round later, Harbaugh landed Ray Rice from Rutgers, and an offense long
asked to merely stay out of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed's way was elevated to co-
starring status.
"They won those playoff games in large part because Joe Flacco stepped up on
the big stage," said Peter Schmuck, a columnist for the Baltimore Sun. "They
won because they delivered (a series of) balanced offensive performances in
which Ray Rice averaged 100 yards and all the front-line receivers made big
plays throughout."
And regardless of Sunday's outcome in New Orleans, Flacco expects to be
treated like a winner.
The Super Bowl will be his final game under the contract he signed upon being
drafted, which paid him $6.76 million this season. He was already rumored to
be seeking a seven-year extension in the neighborhood of $14 million per year,
and his performance in the prolonged playoff run as a No. 4 seed -- 853 yards,
eight touchdowns, no interceptions -- likely does nothing to lower that
threshold.
He played coy during the on-air chat with Patrick, dryly responding to a query
about whether the postseason results should enhance his compensation with a
claim that the financial ball is actually in the court of general manager
Ozzie Newsome.
Incidentally, after the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000 -- with Newsome as
vice president of player personnel -- they let quarterback Trent Dilfer leave
via free agency rather than re-signing him.
"You'd have to ask the guys in the front office that question," Flacco said.
"It's not really my concern. My concern is with my teammates right now and
making sure we go out there and play the best game that we can."
The Sports Network