Northern Iowa seemed poised to advance to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals when it hosted Delaware in early December.
The raucous crowd of 15,803 inside UNI Dome cheered at a deafening pitch, making it very difficult for Delaware coach K.C. Keeler to send plays to his offense that already trailed by 10 points in the second quarter.
But Delaware quarterback Joe Flacco was oblivious to his surroundings, as he calmly huddled his teammates and made sure they kept their composure with the quiet, confidence of a seasoned leader.
“No one ever started panicking because Joe had a calming effect on everyone.” Keeler said. “Joe is just a very confident person, but he?s not comfortable being a rock star.”
But he sure played like one that night ? leading the Blue Hens to 21 straight points en route to a 39-27 victory to finish with 312 yards and two touchdowns to end the previously undefeated Panthers? season.
It is that demeanor ? one he displayed countless times during an illustrious collegiate career that ended with his team falling to Appalachian State in the FCS title game ? that complements a chiseled, 6-foot-6, 235-pound frame.
It?s also what led the Ravens to believe he?s their quarterback of the future, as they took him with the 18th pick in the NFL Draft last month. It culminated a journey that took Flacco from the bright lights of big-time college football at Pittsburgh to a school that isn?t well-known outside of the region to the stage of Radio City Music Hall, where Roger Goodell, theNFL?s commissioner, announced his name to a worldwide audience.
“Watching him travel the road he took to get to the NFL makes what he accomplished even sweeter,” said Steve Flacco, Joe?s dad.
ROAD LESS TRAVELED
Joe Flacco?s rise to national prominence came much differently than most first-round quarterbacks like Peyton Manning or Carson Palmer, who routinely played in front of more than 90,000 fans at Tennessee and USC. Flacco played football, basketball and baseball growing up, but shined on the football field at his neighborhood public school, Audubon High, in New Jersey.
Flacco envisioned starring at the University of Pittsburgh, but its coaches had other plans. After redshirting as a freshman and playing little the next year, Flacco thought he would finally get to play when Dave Wannstedt replaced Walt Harris as coach. Instead, he remained on the sidelines and sought to transfer, eventually landing at Delaware, where he was forced to sit out in 2005 because Wannstedt wouldn?t release him from his scholarship.
“I wanted to go prove when I was at Delaware that I was capable of playing at [Pitt] and I just [didn?t get a chance],” Flacco said. “I still carry that with me. I still carry it with me that I?m a I-AA guy and I had to go down to the minor leagues in college football and prove who I was.”
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Flacco is ready to prove critics wrong again ? only this time as a multi-million dollar star expected to provide the Ravens with a young, top-flight quarterback who can turnaround a downtrodden team that sunk to 5-11 last season.
“Everyone wants to talk about that being a concern ? the jump from Division I-AA,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “But I think all quarterbacks have to make a jump from college, and that?s a tough jump and that?s been proven.”
Flacco has never lived in the spotlight. He?s the oldest of Steve and Karen Flacco?s six children, a 23-year-old who never owned a car, but he?s planning on buying one with endorsement money he recently received from Reebok. He?s a suburban kid still dating his high school sweetheart.And his first job? It begins Friday, when he reports to Owings Mills for rookie mini camp.
“He?s pretty much always been the same guy you see today,” Steve Flacco said. “He?s just always been involved in just school and sports. If he could avoid all of this media stuff, he would.”
Joe Flacco doesn?t plan on changing any time soon. He?ll be the same, soft-spoken signal caller who threw for 7,046 yards, and 41 touchdowns the past two seasons as a Blue Hen. In a Ravens? locker room filled with outgoing personalities Ray Lewis, Bart Scott and Derrick Mason, Flacco wants his performance on the field to be the only way he attracts attention.
“I definitely am a low-key guy,” he said. “I?m not a rah-rah guy. I really just want to prove to them that I can play football. Once I prove to them that I can play football, I feel like all the trust and the leadership will follow.”
