Joe Flacco

Infobox NFLactive
name=Joe Flacco

Joseph Vincent Flacco (born January 16, 1985 in city-state|Audubon|New Jersey) is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens 18th overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Delaware.

College career

Pittsburgh

Flacco redshirted for a team that went 8-4 in 2003.

In 2004, Flacco was the second-string back-up quarterback finding limited playing time behind starter Tyler Palko. He saw action in three games against Ohio University, University of Nebraska, and the University of South Florida. He finished the season with a completion for 11 yards.

Delaware

Flacco transferred to the University of Delaware. Flacco was unable to get a release from his scholarship at Pitt, so he was ineligible for action or a scholarship in the 2005 season with UD.

Flacco saw his first full time action during the 2006 season. Flacco put up good numbers for the Fighting Blue Hens with nearly 3,000 yards, and 18 touchdowns as opposed to 10 interceptions. However, due to injury of starting running back Omar Cuff, Delaware struggled to a 5-6 record, missing the playoffs.

The 2007 season proved to be his most successful. Flacco led his team to an 8-3 regular season record while compiling over 3,300 yards, 18 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions. He was considered one of college footballs most accurate passers in 2007. Arguably his best game came against Division 1-A Navy where he threw for 434 yards and four touchdowns. Flacco showed another solid performance in the first ever meeting against Delaware State University in the first round of the playoffs. Behind Cuff's record-setting day, Flacco threw efficiently for 189 yards and a touchdown. Flacco continued UD's playoff run by upsetting the Northern Iowa Panthers 39-27 in the FCS quarterfinals and upsetting the Southern Illinois Salukis the next weekend in the semifinals. Flacco threw for over 200 yards and 2 touchdowns against both the Panthers and Salukis, [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=146278 ESPN - Joe Flacco Stats, News, Photos - Delaware Fightin Blue Hens - NCAA College Football ] ] but went on to lose in the championship game to Appalachian State University.While at Delaware he participated in and won a cat wrangling contest- catching and releasing over 24 feral cats in a four hour period. The event sponsored by New Castle County SPCA allowed strays to be neutered and vaccinated.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Flacco was initially invited to the East-West Shrine Game, but opted out to take part in the Under Armour Senior Bowl when Matt Ryan of Boston College decided not to participate. [ [http://profootballexperts.scout.com/2/719153.html Scout.com: Flacco Accepts Senior Bowl Invite] ] Flacco struggled on Monday's practice with several botched snaps, but steadily improved as the week continued and garnered the attention of several NFL scouts and draft experts. [ [http://www.nfl.com/seniorbowl/story;jsessionid=9442F75A0BF814C72D4BB43A16640ACB?id=09000d5d8062ee4d&template=with-video&confirm=true Senior Bowl: Flacco leads solid, but unspectacular, group of QBs] .]

With a solid showing at the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine, Flacco solidified himself as a top 5 QB in the 2008 NFL Draft. Most experts agreed that he would be off the board before the end of the second round. [ [http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/insider/news/story?id=3212538 ESPN - Flacco continues to improve; North return men are impressive - NFL ] ]

Flacco won the long distance throw competition in ESPN's State Farm College Football All-Star Challenge with a 74 yard throw. He beat out Matt Ryan, Colt Brennan, Chad Henne, and John David Booty, then won the Taco Bell QB Scramble with a time of 15.74 seconds.Fact|date=March 2008 He scored a 27 on the Wonderlic exam out of the 50 questions . [ [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-080322-nfl-draft-wonderlic-test,1,4563566.story NFL teams weigh Wonderlic tests] ]

Baltimore Ravens

Flacco was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens 18th overall in the 2008 NFL Draft, becoming the highest drafted player ever from the University of Delaware. On July 16, he signed a five-year contract with a maximum value of around $30 million and $8.75 million guaranteed.

Due to injuries to incumbent starter Kyle Boller and former Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, Flacco became the starting quarterback in the 2008 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. Flacco completed 15 of 29 passes for 129 yards, his longest pass being a 15-yard play to Derrick Mason. He threw no touchdowns and no interceptions in his debut, but did complete a 38-yard rushing touchdown [http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/football/bal-sp.ravens08sep08002019,0,2365173.story] , which was the longest rushing touchdown by a quarterback in Ravens' franchise history. [http://www.baltimoreravens.com/News/Articles/2008/09/Flacco_Answers_the_Call.aspx Flacco Answers the Call - BaltimoreRavens.com] . Retrieved on September 8, 2008.] Flacco's touchdown put the Ravens up 17-3 and eventually won the game 17-10.

With a 28 - 10 week 3 win over the Cleveland Browns (the week 2 game with the Texans was postponed due to Hurricane Ike), Flacco became just the third rookie quarterback to start 2-0 since 1970, joining John Elway and Ryan Leaf. [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/ravens/home.htm]

In a week 4 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Flacco played his first road game, his first Monday Night Football game and also threw his first professional touchdown pass on a three yard corner to TE Daniel Wilcox.

Endorsements

Flacco signed a three-year contract with Reebok as a rookie in 2008.cite web|url=http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2008/04/29/nike-reebok-get-busy-signing-nfl-draft-rookies-to-endorsement-d/|title=Nike, Reebok Get Busy Signing NFL Draft rookies to Endorsement Deals|accessdate=2008-04-29]

References

External links

* [http://www.udel.edu/sportsinfo/football/roster07-flacco.html Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens bio]
* [http://www.baltimoreravens.com/People/Players/Active/Joe_Flacco.aspx Baltimore Ravens bio]