Flacco

Maybe some time down the road, he'll be dating a series of those interchangeably beautiful women you see on the arms of athletes and actors. He'll be driving some hot stud-machine car, turning up in South Beach clubs and surrounding himself with an entourage of assorted hangers-on. In other words, maybe someday Joe Flacco will start acting like the NFL quarterback that he is. But for now, let's enjoy our pre-if-ever-hip QB and his helmet-haired, nearly uni-browed and decidedly non-metrosexual grooming.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Last week, as the Ravens prepared for yesterday's game against the New York Giants, offensive coordinator Cam Cameron said of Joe Flacco's season-long development, "It doesn't get any easier." Anybody who doubted that, who thought the quarterback had figured it all out 10 games into his NFL career, can't anymore. Not after yesterday. The Giants could hardly have made it harder. Neither could his teammates. Or, for that matter, himself. It was far from his worst game of the season, but it also was far from his best.

Back on Aug. 7, would you have predicted that either of these quarterbacks would be starting in an NFL playoff game today, against each other, no less? Joe Flacco, the Ravens rookie from small-time Delaware, going 0-for-3 and losing a fumble while mopping up in his preseason debut that night? Chad Pennington, legendary noodle arm for the New York Jets, released that day (and eventually salvaged by the lowly Miami Dolphins) so the Jets could make room for Brett Favre? Would you, in fact, have guessed that of the three aforementioned players, Favre would be the one sitting at home this weekend, absorbing abuse from fans, media and even teammates for not doing, with everything on the line, what Pennington and Flacco did for their teams?

Here's a look at Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco's appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman" Monday, courtesy of CBS: Flacco, who walked out to a standing ovation from the audience as Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra played “We Are the Champions,” talked about his contract negotiations with the Ravens: Letterman:  “I read something today about you, and this is a contract negotiation year, and before the game, what did your...

Health - not Harbaugh - could determine the Ravens' starting quarterback. With Troy Smith out with an illness and Kyle Boller dealing with a shoulder injury, first-year coach John Harbaugh might have the most important preseason decision taken out of his hands. The first quarterback to recover - Smith or Boller - could win the job. If neither is healthy, the Ravens would have no choice but to start rookie Joe Flacco, their first-round draft pick. Could the Ravens' quarterback competition be settled by default?

They share uncommon rookie success, powerful right arms and a proclivity for staying cool in the most intense moments. Joe Flacco has taken the January journey that made Ben Roethlisberger famous as a rookie in 2004, turning heads and defenses along the way. Heading into Sunday's AFC championship game in Pittsburgh, some have even portrayed Flacco, the Ravens' quarterbacking prodigy, as the second coming of Roethlisberger, the pulse of the Steelers' offense...

Rookie quarterback Joe Flacco was officially named the Ravens' season-opening starter yesterday, an announcement that seemed implausible just 10 days ago. Medical issues involving the Ravens' other quarterbacks - Troy Smith (tonsil infection) and Kyle Boller (shoulder) - vaulted Flacco from last in the quarterback race to the uncontested winner. "If anyone wrote this in a movie script, no one would believe it," John Harbaugh said. "The thing that is kind of exciting is that you couldn't envision this scenario.

The voice was loud and angry. It rose above the noise of the fans watching the Ravens train at McDaniel College on Wednesday, like the whine of a blender in a crowded bar. "Hey, Flacco!" the voice cried. "What about the handicapped zone?" Joe Flacco shook his head. "Guess that's supposed to make me feel bad," he said softly. The Ravens quarterback had just spent a few minutes signing autographs after the team's morning practice. But he hadn't made it over to a group of fans in wheelchairs, having been pulled aside by a member of the team's public relations staff to do a media interview.

In the previous three years, there were signs in the preseason to indicate improvement by Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. There weren't any this time. Flacco, who completed 17 of 27 passes for 219 yards, two touchdowns and one interception Thursday against the Redskins, has not played in the fourth preseason game for the past two years, and he will probably sit out the finale next Thursday in Atlanta. After watching him Thursday night and in two previous preseason games, it's hard to figure out Flacco and the rest of this offense.

Mike Flacco was happy the Orioles drafted him yesterday, though it rankled the 22-year-old slugger that he lasted until the 31st round. "Yeah, I was disappointed that I didn't go sooner," said Flacco, the CCBC-Catonsville third baseman and brother of Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. "I thought I did pretty well at my workout at Camden Yards last week. Joe was pretty mad, too. But being ticked off is good motivation. "Now I have to prove to [the Orioles] that I was a better pick than where they took me."