Flacco's return to spotlight proves age is just a number
Joe Flacco was once brutally flattened by a future UFC fighter – and popped right back up again. That was 17 years ago when he was still a virtual unknown playing for FCS school Delaware against Hofstra before eventually being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens and putting together a long NFL career.
In the years that followed, the Hofstra lineman, Gian Villante, who delivered the bone-crunching hit on Flacco, would go on to prove himself as a world-class expert in physical punishment, fighting on the same mixed-martial-arts cards as the likes of Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, Jon Jones and Georges St. Pierre.
“I watched the game and I can’t believe that guy I played against all those years ago is still out there doing it at such a high level,” Villante told me by telephone on Thursday. “It blows my mind.
“Think of all the hits Joe has taken over the years, from guys like me and so many others. As a fighter, you obviously get hit brutally hard, but you can take six months until your next fight. “Quarterbacks are trying to get off a throw, they can’t protect themselves, but they’ve got to go back next week and do it again.”
Remember in the distant past when Beyoncé did her halftime thing and then the Super Bowl lights went out in the New Orleans Superdome? That was the Super Bowl that Flacco won, nearly 11 years ago, beating Colin Kaepernick’s San Francisco 49ers in the big game.
Back then, LeBron James had just won his first NBA championship months earlier and LeBron is a supporter of the Flacco revival now. Why wouldn’t he be? James is a Browns fan, he turns 39 on Dec. 30, just 18 days before Flacco does the same, and the notion of one old geyser rooting for another to shine on behalf of his hometown team seems entirely fitting.
If not for his advanced years, the success wouldn’t be a shock at all. His career tallies are 43,259 passing yards (19th all-time) and 239 touchdowns (30th), and even when bouncing between the Jets (twice), Broncos and the Eagles, he never let his professionalism waver. As much as anything, that’s what a talented but somewhat inexperienced Browns squad is benefiting from.
“You know what’s ahead and what’s kind of promised to us, we are not blind to all that,” Flacco told reporters. “But the guys have a singular focus.”
So too, does the fan base, ignited by seeing a veteran shining in ways that, frankly, guys stepping in for this kind of role aren’t expected to.
“Everyone is pumped,” Villante told me. You could see the air go out of the season with Watson’s injury, then it has all come flooding back – maybe even more so.”
For Villante, the connection from the past adds something to the viewing experience. Not many fans get to say that the QB they’re cheering for is a guy they once drove into the turf.
“I feel all the aches and pains in my body, and I’m in awe of how he’s able to keep doing it,” Villante said. “Let’s hope he has a few more weeks left in him.”
Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the daily newsletter.
