Early in his career, Joe Flacco became a Super Bowl champion and a Super Bowl MVP. Later in his career, the Delaware product earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors.
And now, after playing for seven teams and 18 seasons, a 41-year-old Flacco is finally a Pro Bowler.
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Flacco is an alternate for this year’s Pro Bowl Games, along with the former Cleveland Browns teammate Shedeur Sanders. That means the Browns technically had two Pro Bowl quarterbacks on their roster this season.
The Pro Bowl itself isn’t what it once was, and the recognition that comes with being a Pro Bowler has been heavily scrutinized in recent years, and particularly this week. After throwing seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions across eight games this season, Sanders was picked to replace New England Patriots star Drake Maye in the Pro Bowl. Maye, of course, is preparing for Super Bowl LX.
When the Pro Bowl rosters dropped in late December, the AFC’s quarterbacks for the event were Maye, Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills and Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers.
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Flacco’s slated to replace Allen, who’s recovering from a minor procedure on his injured right foot.
Other AFC quarterbacks were off the table as well, such as the Denver Broncos’ Bo Nix and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, who are working their way back from their own injuries.
That said, Flacco’s nod feels earned, considering his nearly two-decade résumé and his continued production well into the golden years of his NFL career.
During his second stint in Cleveland, Flacco began the season as the Browns’ starter before they benched and traded him midseason to the Cincinnati Bengals in the wake of Joe Burrow’s turf toe injury.
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Replacing a struggling Jake Browning and filling in for Burrow until he returned, Flacco posted a 13:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio with the Bengals. Most notably, he threw for at least 340 yards and three touchdowns twice, including during a Week 7 “Thursday Night Football” win over the Pittsburgh Steelers the same week he was traded across the division.
Flacco will always be remembered for his time with the Baltimore Ravens. But his second act has been impressive, too, and now he has a Pro Bowl honor to show for it.
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