BLOG: The Flacco Effect
I'm not asking the Baltimore Raven fan base to lower their expectations of what a franchise quarterback should be, but I am questioning what it is they want in a franchise quarterback.
Winning the Super Bowl isn't a birthright. It takes a lot of hard work, talent and luck and all of those things have to occur at the right time for a team to cash in.
No, I'm not going to take the worse quarterbacks in the National Football League and tell Ravens' fans to be happy with Joe Flacco because they could have one of those guys. They've had one of those guys before. In fact, the organization drafted one of those guys in the first-round, so the fans have lived in that world before.
When I get questions about whether or not the Baltimore Ravens can win the Super Bowl with Flacco as quarterback, I cannot answer that. No one can. Would you have said the Tampa Bay Bucs would have won it all with Brad Johnson before they won it? Wouldn't you have figured Philip Rivers would have at least been in a Super Bowl by now? Fantasy football fans love Jay Cutler, but does it look like he'll win one before Joe?
What does it take for a quarterback to look like a Super Bowl quarterback? Well, he has to get to one and win it. The over-analysis of Joe Flacco is mind-numbing. Things that have been said about him by fans on occasions aren't even true. This young man has gotten better every year and has led the team to three straight play-offs. That's something that this organization didn't do under Vinny Testaverde, Kyle Boller or anyone else who's been under center for the Purple and Black.
Yes, it's a team sport, but Ray Lewis has been here for 15 years and he hasn't seen that happen before Joe either.
Joe Flacco wasn't suppose to start in 2008 but he did. Things happen for a reason and I'm glad everything that took place that off-season happened. Joe was the only option for the Ravens and he turned out to be the best. I remember watching him in training camp before Boller's injury and Troy Smith's sickness and reporting that Flacco was the only player in camp that actually looked like an NFL quarterback. The only thing that separated him was a lack of experience.
I get it, there are some who believe Smith wasn't given an opportunity. If it wasn't for the worst case of tonsillitis in the history of mankind, Smith would have… He would not have done anything but eventually give way to Flacco because he was an inferior quarterback. Where's Smith now? No, he's not out of a job because of a conspiracy against African-American quarterbacks. Did you see the pre-season game against the Philadelphia Eagles? If you can play, you will play.
Joe Flacco is the best quarterback in the history of this franchise. Whether that's good enough remains to be seen. That might happen with Ray Lewis or without. That might happen in the next three years or after. That might not ever happen at all. The fact remains that Flacco has all of the tools to be THAT GUY. He's better than Smith and yes, Marc Bulger. Like it or not, he's your franchise quarterback.
Follow Rob on Twitter: @RobLongSports
