Weidl and Douglas arrived early in Newark to sniff around. Getting inside information was the reason they were there. One of the Delaware assistants, Ben Albert, was a coach at Richmond when Douglas played and pulled him aside for some thoughts on Flacco. “This kid will never embarrass you, Joe,” Albert told Douglas. “He’s an unbelievable competitor, and the physical ability will speak for itself. Without him, we’d be in rough shape.”
Two weeks earlier, Douglas’ boss, Eric DeCosta finally had his eyes opened to Flacco in Annapolis, and was happy that Douglas was seeing Flacco in Newark and would be bringing that energy on the ride to College Park later in the day to see Matt Ryan. But, at that point, DeCosta was in love with the gunslinger from Boston College and as the Ravens’ season was going down the drain on the field the possibility of picking high enough to get him in April increased with every purple loss in Baltimore.
“I was trying to get my mind off Matt Ryan and my target was seeing Maryland play Clemson at College Park, but that game wasn’t until 3 o’clock,” DeCosta said about the afternoon of October 27, 2007. “Navy played Delaware at noon, so I figured I’d go to Annapolis for a little while, see a little bit of the game and then bust my butt to get to College Park before kickoff.”
DeCosta ran into Ravens’ team photographer Phil Hoffman on the sidelines at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium late in the morning. He said, “Why are you looking at Navy players?” DeCosta just smiled and changed the topic.
Ten minutes later, he bumped into sportswriter John Feinstein, who chronicled the Ravens’ 2004 season in the behind-the-scenes book “Next Man Up,” and who knew DeCosta wouldn’t be in Annapolis on a whim. “What are you doing here?” Feinstein prodded. “You’re not here to see Navy players. You’re here to look at the Delaware quarterback, aren’t you? I hear he’s good.”
DeCosta conceded, “Yeah, I’m just going to check him out a little.”
When DeCosta got to the press box he ran into Ron Wolf, the long-time general manager of the Green Bay Packers who spent a lifetime in the NFL as far back as Al Davis and the AFL in the 1960s with the Oakland Raiders
8
“You’re here to find your triggerman, aren’t you,” Wolf howled at DeCosta. “It’s all shotgun, all no huddle today!” Wolf, the sage veteran, had clearly already done his homework on Joe Flacco.
Flacco made it worth the drive for DeCosta and all who attended in Annapolis that afternoon.
In a game with six lead changes that featured over 1,000 yards of total offense, Flacco was 30-of-41 for 434 yards and four TDs in a 59-52 upset win over the Midshipmen. With the game on the line, Flacco led the Blue Hens on an 89-yard drive in the final minutes to ice the game.
“I began the day thinking I’d be leaving Navy at 2 p.m. and I wound up never going to College Park. Instead, I went back to the office to watch more Delaware tape,” DeCosta said. “I need to figure out more about this kid because now he was on my radar.”
Now, two weeks later, Douglas and Weidl were dispatched to watch Flacco square off against 9th-ranked Richmond. It was finally their chance to get their eyes on the 6-foot-6 transfer from Pittsburgh who had the upstart Blue Hens at 8-1 and ranked No. 6 in the country. It was the first time Weidl had seen Flacco in person and the recommendations by Douglas and DeCosta piqued his interest.
Upon arrival, Douglas struck up sideline conversations with his old Spiders pals on the coaching staff and right away they were talking all things Joe Flacco. “This kid can really spin it, Joe,” they said. “That kid is legit. He’s the best quarterback we’ve seen in 10 years in this league.”
In any press box before any game there’s a gathering of media, scouts, college officials, and staff getting lunch, watching games on the television on a Saturday afternoon, and chatting about football. It’s not unlike a sports bar, lively with conversation and debate.
