Joe Flacco

UPDATE: Check out a photo gallery of images from Joe Flacco's wedding here. The photos can also be found on the website of photographer Jason Prezant , but the site has been inaccessible due to the high interest in the Flacco pictures. . Joe Flacco's wedding photos have been posted out in the blogosphere, and simply put, they are amazing. The photos, which were published to the blog of wedding photographer Jason Prezant, shed a little light onto what the Ravens quarterback is like away from the television cameras and our microphones.

In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, Joe Flacco was criticized for saying at a news conference that the idea of a cold-weather Super Bowl was “retarded,” something the Ravens quarterback apologized for a day later. This past weekend, Flacco -- and fellow Ravens players Ed Dickson and Gino Gradkowski -- signed a pledge to eliminate the use of the "r-word.” Special Olympics Maryland tweeted out a photo of the players on Saturday. After he was drafted by the Ravens in 2008, Flacco quickly established a relationship with Special Olympics Maryland, hosting several events and even jumping into the frigid Chesapeake Bay at the Polar Bear Plunge.

Within a couple of hours of picking up his first ring, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was back on a football field, a champagne bottle in his right hand and his bride and his groomsmen crouched down in front of him like hulking offensive linemen. Flacco barked out commands to his tuxedo-clad teammates as he waited for his new wife to toss him the bouquet from underneath her lacy white dress. The steel bleachers at Audubon High School were empty, save for a few friends and family members.

Cut by the Ravens in early April, linebacker and special teams standout Brendon Ayanbadejo still hasn't ruled out playing in the NFL during the 2013 season. He works out daily and keeps himself ready in case a team calls and the situation is right. But right now, the 36-year-old is far too busy with other endeavors to be consumed with whether his 10-year NFL career is over.   “There's not anything that I have to do right now so If the football angle has exhausted itself because there's no more options in football, then that will come to a close on its own and then there will be a point where I have to announce my retirement.

The Baltimore Ravens trailed the visiting team by 4 points, the third quarter was ticking down, and as Joe Flacco lobbed a pass to the end zone, 71,220 anxious fans followed its flight through the sky. For the moment, Leigh Ann Curl was one of them. From the sideline, she saw the ball on the fingertips of a streaking Ravens receiver, giving Baltimore the lead in the late October game against Buffalo. Then something else caught her eye: One of her prize patients, Todd Heap, lay prone on the M&T Bank Stadium turf.

Joe Flacco signs a contract bringing him over $20 million a year. Did I miss the announcement from the Occupy Baltimore people as to when they are going to protest ("Flacco's record pay day," March 2)? If ever there was a "1-percenter" in Maryland, it has to be Joe. Come on guys, set up a protest camp at M&T Stadium, picket Joe's house. Let's hear from you. Dave Daughters, Gambrills Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Three fingers in the air to signal your call, The no-huddle offense is moving the ball. The defense is surging, we hope for no sack Of our beloved Ravens quarterback! Fickle fans booed you at M&T, But you came back strong and convincingly. From the shotgun, and on the run, You looked downfield for Dennis and Anquan. Relentlessly you brought us back, Our faithful Ravens quarterback! In cold, cold Denver and at one mile high, You said, with under a minute, "Never say die!"

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco's wife Dana is expecting the couple's first child, and the signal-caller finds the interest he's receiving "funny. " "I honestly don't pay attention. I just hear you guys ask me about it and I think that's even a little funny," Flacco said today. "Other than that, I don't really know what is going on about it but it's a little funny. It's not even close to being here yet, but it's exciting for us though.We're really excited about it. " Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times had the original news on the pregnancy.

Joe Flacco is going to Disney World. After helping to lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl victory Sunday, the team's quarterback will be going to Disney World's Magic Kingdom Park on Monday for a celebratory parade, Disney officials announced in a post on their website. "The world just saw quarterback Joe Flacco lead the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl win tonight in New Orleans, so the only question now is what Flacco is going to do next," Disney officials wrote. "Unless you have been stuck inside Space Mountain the last 20 years, the answer is pretty obvious: He's going to Disney World, of course!"

Last week, I chatted with ESPN analyst and ex-NFL quarterback Tim Hasselbeck about San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers for an advance of the Ravens-Chargers game. While I had him on the line, I asked him about Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who has had an up-and-down season in 2011, his fourth in the NFL. Hasselbeck told me that Flacco isn't in the same category as a player like Rivers, whom many feel is one of the top six or seven quarterbacks in the league. But he still thinks the Ravens can do big things with Flacco.

The DC Sports Bog is reporting that Robert Griffin III will get married to Rebecca Liddicoat on July 6 in Virginia, and found the information on The Knot, where the couple registered. A corresponding registry at Bed, Bath and Beyond has the same date, according to the DC Sports Bog, a blog for the Washington Post. The couple met at Baylor and he proposed in 2010. She's from Colorado, previous reports said. What we want to know is whether or not RGIII and his bride will have as much fun taking wedding photos as Joe Flacco and his wedding party did. Here's a reminder of what the Flaccos' wedding album looked like . Either way, we wish RGIII and his fiancée the best of luck.

I clicked onto the Ravens website this morning and saw “ Flacco vs. Big Ben ” splashed across my screen. With the NFL draft now behind us and not much going on in the next couple of months, it looks like we are now in the compare-and-contrast portion of the offseason. We in the media have to keep you clicking somehow. But I'm going to partake in the conversation, sparked by a blog post written by my former colleague Jamison Hensley , because you can now make a compelling argument for both AFC North quarterbacks now that Joe Flacco has a Lombardi Trophy, one his fingerprints are all over after he tossed 11 touchdowns in the playoffs.

The NFL Network has started to slowly reveal its list of the top 100 players of the 2012 season. But knowing how little thought some players give while filling out their ballots, I have a hard time taking that list seriously. The list that interested me more was the top 101 players of 2012 from the guys over at Pro Football Focus . Six PFF analysts put together the list, and they say they based it not on the reputation of players but solely on how they played in the 2012. They also tried to treat each position equally so the top 20 guys aren't quarterbacks.

OK, so now that the Ravens have re-signed left offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie to a two-year contract, the real drama begins. We're starting the official McKinnie Watch here. When will he report to training camp? How much will he weigh? When will he be in condition to play his first game? Will his annual visit to coach John Harbaugh's doghouse last 16 games like last season, or will McKinnie not dog it this season? With McKinnie, there is always theater. Just about everybody around town wanted the Ravens to upgrade at the tackle position in the offseason, but when that didn't happen in the NFL draft , the Ravens had virtually no choice but to bring back the often-disgruntled giant left tackle.

Growing up in the farming community of Fort Morgan, Colo., Ravens rookie offensive lineman Ryan Jensen would never have been mistaken for a future NFL draft pick. Although his older brother, Seth, had played defensive tackle at Nebraska, Jensen weighed just 210 pounds as a high school senior and was virtually ignored by major college recruiters. So Jensen accepted a scholarship offer to Division II Colorado State-Pueblo, where he bulked up to 317 pounds and emerged as an All-American.

The Ravens did us beat reporters a minor disservice on Saturday afternoon, drafting Harvard fullback Kyle Juszczyk, whose surname will leave behind many red squiggly lines as we learn to spell it, in the fourth round. It's too soon to say that this did a disservice to Pro Bowl fullback Vonta Leach, whose future could be in doubt . “I couldn't ask for a better mentor,” Juszczyk said Saturday. “I think he's been the best fullback in the league.” As we have seen for two years, Leach is probably the best blocking fullback in the NFL, and he has the dented facemasks to prove it. But Juszczyk appears to be a better fit for the future as the Ravens, with quarterback Joe Flacco, continue to modernize their offense.

For Thursday's newspaper, I began a three-part series called “Tweaking the Ravens” and I started by tweaking the offense. A big chunk of the analysis piece ( you can find it here ) was about the importance of continuity and stability for Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who took a step forward in the team's recent postseason run. That's not to say Flacco is without flaws. He can improve in many areas, which says a lot about his potential. Based on some numbers crunched by Pro Football Focus, a site that got a lot of traction among NFL writers this past year, one area he and new quarterbacks Jim Caldwell can focus on is how Flacco fares when pressured.

It was all the way back in Week 2 when Joe Flacco looked befuddled, when he threw four passes to the Cincinnati Bengals in a five-point Ravens' loss and looked like he was ready to implode. In the life of an NFL quarterback, it was an eternity ago. Fifteen weeks later, the Bengals are on the horizon again and there is no befuddlement in Flacco. There was no implosion, either. He is, as expected, leading the Ravens into the postseason for the third straight year. He has, as was hoped, shown signs of blossoming into one of the league's elite quarterbacks.

Here is a roundup of which first-round draft prospects the Ravens are linked to in 2013 NFL mock drafts. --- Rob Rang of CBS Sports believes the Ravens will select USC receiver Robert Woods on Thursday night. “The Super Bowl champs committed to quarterback Joe Flacco from a contract perspective, but must add to his weapons if he's to remain successful,” he wrote. “Speedster Torrey Smith gives the club a premium vertical threat but the team could see Woods as an ideal complement following the trade of Anquan Boldin .” --- Peter King of Sports Illustrated says the Ravens will draft Kansas State inside linebacker Arthur Brown with the 32nd pick.

The Ravens won't get their season-opening home game, like reigning Super Bowl champions have for the last decade. But they will play four prime-time games, including a Thanksgiving night showdown at home against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers, and a much-anticipated rematch with the Denver Broncos to kick off their Super Bowl XLVII title defense. The NFL released its regular-season schedule Thursday and it's highlighted by the Ravens' Sept. 5 matchup against the Broncos, a pairing that produced one of the league's most memorable games from the 2012-13 campaign.