Will Joe Flacco Be Remembered As A Raven Or As A Brown?
Great question, Ben. I'll be sure to keep this one in my back pocket for tonight when our family's Ohio State vs. Missouri party dies down due to the Buckeyes being up 4 scores in the first half. It'll be a nice sequel to our family's Christmas dinner discussion, which was a hypothetical situation of if Deshaun Watson miraculously woke up 100% healthy tomorrow, who would you start at QB for the Browns? The family, consisting of 28 born and raised Ohioans, unanimously agreed that you have to ride the hot hand and stick with Joe Flacco. And hey, it's not our $230,000,000 Deshaun is getting paid!
But while I have you guys here, let's discuss Ben's question, and I'll start right off the bat on giving you the correct answer: If Joe Flacco wins a Super Bowl, he will be remembered (and be inducted into the Hall of Fame) as a Cleveland Brown. That's just a fact. I don't know what else to tell you. The fact of the matter is that while Joe Flacco played 11 seasons in Baltimore, leading the team to 2 AFC North titles, 6 playoff appearances, 3 AFC Championship games, and a Super Bowl victory. You would think that a career like that, compared to at most 10 games in Cleveland, would mean he'll forever be a Raven. HOWEVER, let us not forget that the narrative for his entire career was that he was a game manager, winning with an elite defense and a strong running game. I'm not saying he was thought of as terrible, but guys, he has made a grand total of ZERO Pro Bowls. That describes his time in Baltimore. They liked him. He won a lot of games. But they didn't think he was Elite.
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Now, as for his time in Cleveland, let's be clear: this city and this fan base is 100% certain that HE is the reason we are winning. And he is being treated as such. I'm not sure there's been an athlete, let alone a QB, be as welcomed and celebrated in my entire lifetime than what this city has done with FLAAAAA-COOOOOO, FLAAAAA-COOOOO. Seriously, LeBron James and Joe Flacco walk down different sides of the street this morning in Downtown Cleveland within ten seconds Flacco will be in a standstill while LeBron won't have broken stride. And with good reason, too. This man has single handedly gone from Couch to Championship Contender.
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Those stats continue to get better, and better, and better, and better each week. 31st all-time in passing yards in Browns franchise history? More passing touchdowns than five different teams on the year.....? The man has played FIVE GAMES.
Anyways, I stand by what I said: if Flacco wins it all, he's a Brown for eternal life in the Hall of Fame. No doubt about it. If he loses in the 1st round? Probably a Raven. But the biggest question is what happens if he leads the Browns on a playoff run but doesn't win it all? Again, I think the fact that Browns fans are giving him ALL of the credit, combined with the Ravens hanging their hat on other aspects of their team, really make you wonder where his allegiances will lay the day he gets inducted in Canton. I think he's a Brown with an AFC Championship victory or beyond. Anything short and he'll have to be thought of as a Raven forever because, you know, he played 11 years there.