PressBox: Joe Flacco Poised For Stardom

Joe Flacco Poised For Stardom

By Stan "The Fan" Charles

This column will more than likely disappoint many Monday morning experts on quarterback play in Baltimore. The reason is simple. Evidence is beginning to be strikingly clear that, despite all the naysayers, Joe Flacco is quickly grabbing the mantle of star in the NFL.

First, let me digress to an anecdote. (Because isn't it all about me?) The year was 1983, and Stan Charles became Stan "The Fan," uber-baseball expert on the radio. But the transition from stumbling, bumbling talk-show host to, well, a less stumbling, less bumbling talk-show host, was far from immediate.

Before going on the air, I thought I had plenty to speak about, plenty of knowledge to impart to my listeners, I could talk a storm about baseball. But, that first show revealed that after the on-air light went on, my great insights were articulated with a halting speech "Uhhh"s and "Ummmm"s all over the place.

Then the phones started ringing and when I was one-on-one with someone, I could focus on answering his or her question and everything was fine. After that first show, I got home and was pretty proud of myself ... until the phone rang and my Aunt Shirley called to congratulate me. "Is this uhhhh ... ummmm Stan 'The Fan?' " I chuckled, but was mightily embarrassed as she repeated the refrain a couple more times. I vowed to do better.

Think of Flacco's quarterbacking art as his version of being indoctrinated into something he wasn't quite prepared to do at as high a level as he needed to be ready for. This is really the point general manager Ozzie Newsome made at last January's end-of-the-season State of the Ravens press conference, when he said: "It's up to us to take him to that next level. He has to be a better quarterback in 2011 than he was in 2010."

If you listened to the young 22-, 23- or 24-year-old Flacco, his postgame utterances were speckled with plenty of "Ummmm"s and "Uhhhh"s whenever he would endeavor to answer reporters' questions. His script-reading delivery in his Pizza Hut ads was the stuff people routinely made fun of in terms of how his accent was fraught with so much Baltimore Hon. "The Wacko Flacco? That makes me sound psycho, dude."

But, this past offseason, Flacco did some things he had never really publicly done before, including speaking out in defense of a fired coach, Jim Zorn. Flacco also spoke out about being deserving of a contract extension, and all but publicly called out John Harbaugh and Cam Cameron, asking them to trust him more.

And maybe most importantly, in the grand scheme of things, Flacco became a husband, which carries a whole new set of responsibilities.

After all those growing pains, what was Flacco's reward from management? He has to do this without his two security blanket receivers, Todd Heap and Derrick Mason.

This column was written after just one regular season game -- the astounding, 35-7 win Sept. 11 versus the Pittsburgh Steelers. During that game, Flacco was a smooth operator in going a cool, calm and collected 17-for-29 for 224 yards, a passer rating of 117.6 and most importantly, zero turnovers.

The feeling here, and I am flat-out predicting it now, is that by the time the October PressBox comes out, Flacco's Ravens will be 4-0, with victories on the road in Tennessee and St. Louis, followed by a national TV victory against the Jets in Baltimore on Oct 2.

Another feeling here is -- and I am flat-out predicting this as well -- with Peyton Manning out for the year, Tom Brady is probably still the No. 1 QB in the AFC, but by the time the sun sets on this 2011-2012 season, Flacco may be in the conversation about who is next.

Issue 165: September 2011