Going deep once again with the wisdom of Joe Flacco

Once again, we gave him a chance to announce his NFL retirement here but our Super Bowl XLVII MVP continues a 19th offseason of mental and physical preparation to get another job in the league doing what he’s always done. Joe Flacco returns for another offseason NFL chat with Nestor and looking back but still forward to throwing more touchdowns and winning games. Here’s why…

Joe Flacco discussed his NFL career, reflecting on his 11 years in Baltimore and his current status as a free agent. He expressed his love for the game and his desire to continue playing, despite the physical challenges and the competitive nature of the league. Flacco highlighted the importance of routine and preparation, both on and off the field, and shared his thoughts on the generational changes in the NFL. He also touched on his family life, emphasizing the joy of spending time with his children and the balance between professional and personal commitments. Flacco remains open to new opportunities and cherishes his connection to Baltimore.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host a weeklong ‘cup of soup / bowl’ fundraising event next week on behalf of the Maryland Lottery in conjunction with GBMC to help feed people for the Maryland Food Bank (marathon event Monday–Wednesday and all week).
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Provide scratch-off tickets to give away during the fundraising week as part of the Maryland Lottery / GBMC event.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend and kick off the fundraising events next week at specified locations (Catonsville, Essex, Timonium) with GBMC and partners.

Joe Flacco’s Return to Baltimore

• Nestor Aparicio welcomes Joe Flacco to the show, mentioning the 25th anniversary of Super Bowl 35 and a marathon event for the Maryland Food Bank.
• Joe Flacco discusses his busy schedule, mentioning he tries to say no most of the time but sometimes says yes when he’s in between activities.
• Nestor reminisces about Joe’s early days in Baltimore, asking how long he plans to keep playing football.
• Joe expresses his desire to have a long career and enjoy the game, mentioning he takes each situation as it comes.

Joe Flacco’s Career and Future Plans

• Nestor asks Joe if he ever considered himself a quarterback for hire, to which Joe responds he didn’t view himself that way but enjoys being a versatile player.
• Joe talks about the fun of playing football and being part of great locker rooms, despite the challenges of bouncing around teams.
• Nestor highlights Joe’s resilience and ability to overcome being underrated, asking if he feels he has unfinished business.
• Joe acknowledges having a chip on his shoulder but emphasizes his love for the game and desire to play until he can’t anymore.

Challenges and Reflections on Joe’s Career

• Nestor and Joe discuss the physical challenges Joe faced in his 30s, particularly after a serious injury in 2015.
• Joe reflects on the learning experience of dealing with injuries and the impact on his career.
• Nestor mentions Joe’s recent comments about Zach Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals, asking Joe about his experience with the team.
• Joe praises Zach Taylor’s coaching style and the offensive philosophy in Cincinnati, noting the respect he has for the team and its players.

Joe’s Perspective on Coaching and Player Development

• Nestor asks Joe about the qualities that make a good coach and offensive scheme.
• Joe emphasizes the importance of conviction and a solid plan in coaching, as well as the benefits of having good players.
• Joe discusses the differences between generations of players and the impact of the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) rule on young athletes.
• Joe reflects on the changes in the NFL and the challenges of adapting to new practices and player mindsets.

Joe’s Routine and Preparation for Football

• Nestor inquires about Joe’s preparation routine and how he stays ready for games.
• Joe explains the importance of having a consistent routine, which he developed over his career, to stay focused and avoid distractions.
• Joe talks about the balance between work and personal life, mentioning his enjoyment of spending time with his kids and attending their activities.
• Joe discusses the internal and external pressures of playing professional football and how a routine helps him manage these pressures.

Joe’s Baltimore Connection and Future Plans

• Nestor asks Joe about his connection to Baltimore and his plans for the future.
• Joe expresses his love for Baltimore and his desire to maintain a strong connection with the city and its fans.
• Joe talks about the possibility of returning to Baltimore in the future, either as a coach or in another capacity.
• Nestor and Joe discuss the potential for Joe to have a role in the city, such as a Joe Flacco Day or other community events.

Joe’s Reflections on Family and Life Beyond Football

• Nestor asks Joe about his favorite things in life and how he balances his career with family.
• Joe shares his enjoyment of spending time with his kids and attending their activities, emphasizing the importance of cherishing these moments.
• Joe reflects on the future, mentioning his plans to stay active and involved in the community after his playing career ends.
• Nestor and Joe discuss the potential for Joe to continue contributing to Baltimore and the NFL in various capacities.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Joe Flacco, Baltimore, Super Bowl, NFL career, quarterback, coaching, locker room, preparation, routine, family, retirement, Baltimore positive, Maryland lottery, GBMC, Maryland Food Bank.

SPEAKERS

8

Joe Flacco, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. It is Baltimore positive. I’ve been having a whole bunch of Super Bowl 35 champs on for the 25th anniversary of our thing that we did in Tampa many years ago, but we did another thing a dozen years later, and our next guest is going to be a part of that. We’re doing a cup of soup or bowl next week on behalf of the Maryland lottery, in conjunction with our friends at GBMC, I will have some scratch offs to give away all week long. It is a marathon event, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we’re all week long. It’s all up at Baltimore. Positive. Big appreciation everybody helping us feed folks for the Maryland Food Bank. We now cold it is outside. A lot of the pantries have dried up through the holidays, and now that we get into February, into the real Super Bowl week. And this guy Super Bowl MVPs on or champions certainly, I put my planet fitness purple on today to honor him, although he’s worn some different helmets here of late, we welcome Joe Flacco back to Baltimore. Dude, I’ve seen you everywhere. I mean, you’re doing all the podcasts here. I I’m hoping I’m last, because I wanted you to save the best for last involvement. Everybody calls you, man, how are you

Joe Flacco  01:08

I’m doing? Well, listen, I try to say, I try to stay say no to most things. But every now and then you get me, like, in the right moment where I’m like, in between drop offs or doing whatever, and I’m a little bit weak, and I just say, All right, let’s do it. You know,

Nestor Aparicio  01:22

well, when we say, let’s do it, the first question is, how long are we going to keep doing it? In your case? And I always go back to you coming to my place almost 20 years ago now, walking around the city, and you’re asking me, Where was Memorial Stadium again? And like and then you become this legendary figure here. And I think we all thought, maybe even your family thought you wouldn’t be playing football in 2020 football in 2026 or having me seriously ask you about it. All your dreams came true. We see it all happening. How long you gonna keep doing this? Man? Well, it’s interesting.

8

Joe Flacco  01:52

I think I always set out to have, like, a good long career, but I definitely wouldn’t have thought that in 2026 that I was still gonna get be getting ready to play again, and you never know. You never know what, what, what’s going to happen over the next few months. And I haven’t really thought about not playing. Obviously. I think you know from the time you start playing football, there’s always like that lingering. Okay, one day this is going to be over, but right now I’m just trying to enjoy myself, and I am enjoying myself. I think as I get a little bit older, I want to play, and I want to go out there and play, but at the same time, you know, it’s situation specific. You know what’s going to present itself this year, and and how do I feel about those situations?

Nestor Aparicio  02:40

And then go from there. Did you ever think of yourself as quarterback for hire, sort of in this way? And and you have been home right? Like you’ve been left out at one point where you watch football on TV until you got a call, right? And wondering if you’re going to get a call, right?

Joe Flacco  02:55

Yeah, no, I never really viewed myself as that. And I don’t know if I would have chosen it, but man, there’s been a lot. It’s been a lot of fun. I still, you know, I’d still like to go get a home somewhere, but at the same time, it’s been a lot of fun being the guy, being kind of a guy that you can go out and get and, you know, the biggest thing about that is, you know, you’re going to play games. And I, even though I’ve been bouncing around the last few years I’ve I got to look at the good things and the positive parts of it, and I’ve been able to play a lot of football games, which is ultimately what I want to do, and be, be a part of, you know, a lot of great locker rooms. And, you know, that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day. I mean, it’s about winning and doing those things, but it’s all it’s also about doing what you love and trying to do that at a high level. And you know, it’s been, it’s been a lot of fun over the last few years, even though it’s not necessarily how I would have drawn it up.

Nestor Aparicio  03:50

8

I think the psychology of it for anybody else to say, got your health, you got a lot of money, you know, little older, but there’s a part for you that I know, the Philly guy, the jersey guy, the guy that didn’t get on the field of Pittsburgh and had to go to Delaware, the guy that wasn’t Matt Ryan and got that pick, but the guy that was passed over, the guy that wasn’t mentioned with Brady and Manning and all of that, all that has served you well being sort of, you know, under people thinking that you can’t and you can, and you still go out there, even this year, and people thought you couldn’t, and you did every time they count against you, you come back right?

Joe Flacco  04:29

Listen, like, I don’t want to say I have unfinished business, and that’s kind of why I’m still playing, but like, I still feel like I have a lot of fun ahead of me, you know, on the football field. And, yeah, I mean, I guess everybody in the league has a little chip on their shoulder, and I’m no different, you know? I I say that I wouldn’t have drawn it up this way, and that’s because I feel like I could have done more the last five, six years and really over my career. But. But you can’t complain about that. It is what it is. You just got to go out there and continue to do what you love, if that’s what, if that’s how you feel, and that’s all I can do, and that’s what I’m doing. I when I listen, I’m on the back end, obviously, like I’m towards the end. I mean, who knows when that’s going to be but, but when it is all done, I, you know, I want to, I want to walk around every day and not look back on the 20 years previous and have a regret here or there, or feel a little bit negative about this or that. I want to feel good about the rest of my life. And football has been such a big part of that, and and is a big part of my life, and it’s taught me so much that I’m going to give it all I can until I, you know, until I really can’t do it anymore, so that when I’m 50 years old, I’m looking myself in the mirror without any questions as to whether I could have done it or not done it.

Nestor Aparicio  05:56

I think the point where you left here and you went to Denver, and, you know, I have people in my life who love you, who are huge fans of yours for what you’ve done for me and the city, and just they know my relationship with you, and they always pass that along. And the people that really study football and your career, who are huge fans of yours, looked at it and said, well, the injuries around that period of time, the players around you, the circumstances, was there a point during that 15 to 19 period where, physically, you felt awful, and now know five, six years later to say I wasn’t physically in the best position, because you look physically really well the last two years. And I don’t know that it’s training or not, but I know you got beaten up. I saw the Alonzo thing and things that happened after that. I thought there was a period in your 30s where you just physically weren’t able to do it the way you wanted to do it. Am I right in

Joe Flacco  06:50

saying that? I think there’s probably a couple years there after I hurt my knee where I wasn’t 100% and then little things happen. It’s football, you know, little things happen to you. I always feel like that’s a part of playing this game, is doing those things. But after getting, like, my first serious injury ever in, you know, in 2015 and then just kind of learning how to deal with that, and building my body back up and and the time it takes to really get back to who you are, I think that definitely left some lingering things that I was a debt that I was taking care of at the time, but then, but then something else would pop up. And, you know, that’s also just a point in my career where we were, you know, we were trying to find our we were trying to, like, refined our identity. You know, we had a really good year in 2014 and then the next four or five years, we were really trying to figure it out. And we were, man, we were close. We were one of those teams, like nine and eight, eight, you know, eight and eight. What are we going to do? Are we going to, you know, when we were there at the end of the seasons to make playoff pushes, but just couldn’t quite get over the hump? And yeah, I was a part of that. And I definitely believe that, yeah, there were some things that happened to my body over the course of those few years. I don’t think they were a huge deal, but they it was a learning experience in terms of, you know, getting over some of those things, and maybe not feeling 100% and, and then kind of coming out of that on the other side, and, and kind of, you know, it just takes some time with some of those things.

8

Nestor Aparicio  08:23

Joe Flacco is our guest. If I’ve used tuned in on the radio, or you had a Baltimore positive, he likes to come by once a year and have me continue to pester him long into his into the end of his career. Here, I hope it got I hope you have a couple more left. I’ll just say this, Luke and I were talking all the coaching stuff with Tomlin and Harbaugh a month ago. This was at the point where you were off the field and burrow had come back, and we had played those couple of games in December, and the feeling was maybe Zach Taylor’s in trouble, and Cincinnati will go a different direction, and they’re loyal, and the Pittsburgh, they’re never going to make a move from Tom and never going to make a move from Harbaugh, like there was this feeling. And Luke and I talked about Zach Taylor, and then I saw you on the exit interview at your locker being asked, and I know you to never lie, which is my, one of my favorite parts of you is that you’re just, if you don’t have something to say, you won’t say it, but you’re not gonna bullshit me. And you went over the top, not just about your wide receivers in Cincinnati, but about the coach, and I thought that really said something to me, and it I brought it up on the air to say, Joe wouldn’t have been like that unless he felt like that. And it wasn’t about you getting a job there next, it’s, you know, you don’t play those games, but you’ve been coached by everybody. When I think about new coach here, and we’re about to have this mentor thing happen in Baltimore, and who’s the OC and who’s the quarterback coach? I’m thinking maybe nobody in the game, maybe Josh Johnson, or few guys like that have ever been in more rooms with more humans coaching you in different circumstances than you at this point. And I would think for you to jump out about lead. Ship, having probably been around good and bad and probably ugly through all of this over all of these years. The Cincinnati experience, it really I saw the light in your eye.

Joe Flacco  10:09

Joe, yeah, yeah. Listen, I think those guys have a good setup there. I think this is a hard league. And you know, sometimes things happen throughout the course of the year where you’re just not, operating on all cylinders, or, you know, you’re dealing with injuries and thing, and it makes it makes things tougher. You haven’t you have a tough early part of the schedule and things, you know, you’re climbing out of a out of a hole. But, and listen, I was there for, you know, what, 13 weeks, 14 weeks, something like that. But just had a really good experience. I have, I’ve seen a lot of coaches Now, listen, I’ve been fortunate. I’ve liked all the guys that I’ve played with, but you know what they have set up there in Cincinnati with, you know, the way they’ve built that with the players they have, and just the way they’ve kind of grown together, you can see that it’s a group that’s been together for, you know, a period of time and have been able to evolve in what they do. And Zach’s just such a big part of that. I think when you see him in person, and you get to kind of see how he commands the room during the team meetings and on the sideline, you know that just, you know that just really stood out to me. I mean, obviously that was a little bit piece of it. The piece of it that really stuck out was just the whole offensive philosophy and and the way he approaches the game. I just think I ended up having a lot of respect for it. And, like I said, I was only there for 1314, weeks, but I just got the sense that everybody in that locker room, you know, some of the things that I said, I don’t remember what I said, but I made sure that I said some good things, and I can tell you right now that the guys in that locker room feel exactly how I felt.

Nestor Aparicio  11:50

Joe Flacco is here. So for you with coordinators and with offensive schemes and philosophies, what makes it good or bad? What may I mean in your mind when you see something, what gets you excited about possibilities when you see offense in a way that I can’t see it in a scientific way?

Joe Flacco  12:10

8

Listen, I mean, you get these different playbooks, and they’re all very similar. I think at the end of the day, when you in order to be a good coach, you have to have conviction in what you’re doing. You have, you have to truly believe in it and have a plan and and I think when you do that, when you truly believe in something, it really sets up nicely to have a really good plan. You You attack things in a, you know, you install things and then attack just the work day with a with with a very good schedule in mind, and because you’re sticking to it, you believe in this. This is what you believe in this. It might not be the greatest thing in the world, but this is what I know, and this is what I believe in. So that, coupled with having the feel and the natural ability and then learning as you do it to be a really good play caller, you know, is huge. And then, I mean, listen, I’m just talking about the coaching side of it. Obviously, players, you know, can really, you know, can can really benefit. You can really benefit from having good players. But it’s the same, you know, it’s the same thing for players. You it goes both ways, both sides of the of the coin benefit from having each other players benefit so much from having good coaches. And coaches obviously benefit from having those players, and they’re the ones that are getting pumped up all the time. And obviously when you have Jamar Chase and T Higgins, you know, and a bunch of those other guys on the offensive side of the ball, it’s going to make your job easier. But I just feel like the good ones, man, they have strong belief in what they do, and because of that, they’re, they’re, they’re, they’re very confident, and they have a plan as to how to install things and how to come up with a game plan to really take advantage of what they do. Well, you go

Nestor Aparicio  13:58

out there and throw for 400 yards in five minutes in a new offense, three days of practice, whatever it was, and I’m watching and I’m like, Man, Joe, can still do this. Do you know you can still do this? Or do you shock yourself and you have to prove it to yourself?

Joe Flacco  14:13

You know, I know I can still do it, but there is still that proof. You still have to go out there and prove it to yourself, especially when you’re not. I mean, I was fortunate enough to play 10 games this year, or something around that number. When you’re sitting on the sideline, though, you can start to question yourself a little bit, even though, even when you’ve played as much football as I have, when you’re watching people do what you love to do, it’s not necessarily good for the mind. So, yeah, I know it. I believe it. I truly do. But you do need to go out there and do it whether and sometimes that can only be practiced, but to go out there and confirm things is always good for the confidence. And it is. It gives you those little reminders you know as to why you love the game. I. Um, you know, sometimes it, you know, you can make practice fun, and you can make hanging out with the guys fun, but when you’re not playing, you can, you can forget some of that a little bit quicker than than you’d like.

Nestor Aparicio  15:11

So I’ve had the good fortune recently spending a lot of time with the Super Bowl 35 guys who came back in here, and those guys are mainly my age, right? Like, right? So I’m, you know, born in the 60s, in the early 70s, a lot of them are a little younger than me. You’re my son’s age, right? And I’ve been thrown out of the locker room for four or five years. Now, I’ve not met most of the young guys, but I was around for Lamar, and I think Lamar and that generation is a different generation, even than you. Yeah. And then you walk in with you have a 13 year old now, you’re not quite the Dion’s level of having, you know, having, but, or even where Ken Griffey was. You’re not going to play with your kids LeBron or whatever, when you walk in and see 2021, 22 year old guys in your meeting rooms in different ways. How is that? How has it changed? What would I not recognize?

8

Joe Flacco  16:03

Yeah, listen, I mean, people are always curious about that, and it’s weird, because when you’re in in one spot for so long, you don’t necessarily realize the generational, the change that’s happening, because you have so many things around you that are familiar, but I think it was probably the second year, I don’t know if it was the second or third year that I was in New York where I started this. Like, notice guys looking at me a little bit different. And I was like, Okay, getting old. I’m getting older now. Because I didn’t realize what they were looking at at first. And then I and then it dawned on me, like they were kind of curious as to why I was still doing this. And what I tell people now is, like, when I’m in the locker room with those guys, I’ve been in the locker room with these guys my whole life. No, not my whole NFL career. I’ve been in a locker room with guys that are 22 to 30 years old. That’s where I’ve been in a locker room my whole life. And I’m still go. I’m still doing that. I’m walking into work and I’m going into a locker room filled with 22 to 30 year old guys. So for me, it’s not much different in terms of going to work every day. It is a little bit different for those guys to see me walk in, but for me, I just feel normal. It kind of transports me back to that eight that time in my life, like that age range, that’s what I think somebody

Nestor Aparicio  17:24

come to you says, I was 10 years old. I watched you win the Super Bowl.

Joe Flacco  17:28

Yes, yes, I get that. I do, for sure, and I love it. It’s cool. But it is. It’s a different generation. It really is. I mean, every generations. I mean, listen,

Nestor Aparicio  17:39

8

this is n i l though, right? This is way different, right?

Joe Flacco  17:43

Ray Lewis was probably saying the same thing about my class when we came in and there was somebody saying the same thing about Ray Lewis’s class. Like it, there’s always a point where things change a little bit. The difference. Like you sound like an old, you know, an old guy that’s just pissed at the world. But the difference is, is that, like we did two a days or three days and and we could, we played at a time where you could take guys heads off and in terms of tackling and all those things, you could practice for three hours. You could practice for four or five hours if you wanted to. There was no limit nowadays. Every single guy that comes into the NFL has never experienced any of that at any point in their life. And and you can tell a little bit. You can tell a little bit. If you were to throw a three hour practice at some of these guys, they’d look at you sideways, and it would not go well. I do think there’s becoming less and less room for a guy to become a coach in this league that’s not just truly a player’s coach, because of the whole n i l thing and and where this thing is gone, and who knows if that’s for the better or the worse. I mean, you can’t really say, but it’s a different time. I mean, I tell you, like, if I had 400 bucks in my account when I was in college, because all of a sudden we got a check. Or, you know, I remember we went to a bowl game one year, and I had a couple extra bucks in my account, and I felt like I was on top of the world. Now, these guys might have millions of dollars at 1819, 20 years old. I think some, I think there’s a I think there’s a bunch of players that that’s not going to affect in a negative way, but I do think there’s a bunch of guys falling to the wayside that that would have made it in a different world, just because, you know, I don’t know what I would have done with a with a great upbringing and great support. I don’t know what I would have done if I had a million or $2 million in the bank account when I was in college. It’s just a different it’s a different time, and now you’re walking in these NFL facilities. I mean, they’re a huge downgrade from whatever you were from wherever you were at in college, you know? So it’s kind of, it’s got to be a little bit of a culture shock, sure.

Nestor Aparicio  20:00

Flaco is our guest. We’ll talk. It’s football and life around here, right? So I asked my AI clone to write some questions for you. So these are fun. What’s the secret to earning trust fast in a locker room?

Joe Flacco  20:13

Wow, well, I always go back to like, when you’re in a locker room filled with men and you’re playing football, like, go out and play well, you know, put the work in and then go play well. But man, like, I love going into the lunch room and like, or sitting at guys lockers and just having conversations with them and trying to show guys I’m not purposely doing it. It’s just who I am. But you want to be a part of the group, man, you want to, you want to be a part of the team. And I think there’s always a little bit of nervousness that comes with that, but then you’re able to go out and play and show that you can play, and then those conversations become easier, and you gain respect for guys. They gain respect for you, but it’s just, it’s just making those relationships. But I think it all starts in an NFL locker room, you know, with putting the work in and gaining the respect through playing well.

8

Nestor Aparicio  21:02

Which preparation look like? I mean, we this time of year, it’s cold as hell. We all know that, but you always look ready to go. Are you five days a week in the gym all the time? Have been forever lifestyle thing. Is there ever a time where,

Joe Flacco  21:17

oh yeah, like, listen, like, I learned this lifestyle my first three years, I didn’t know what to do in the off season. I didn’t necessarily know what to do. And people always would tell you, find a routine, and you don’t really know what that means, even, and you don’t know why it benefits you. I mean, but you know, I listen, I was fortunate enough to find that routine and find somebody to help me out in the off season, and then during the season, like you find out, you start to learn why having a routine is important. I mean, look, 20 some weeks with training camp and a regular season, playoffs like that, can be a long time, and you’re going to hit times where you’re fatigued and you’re fatigued and you know, you don’t necessarily want to do some things, but if you have that routine, it helps you stay in the moment so much. You know, it helps you from drifting away to and asking yourself all these different questions. You develop this routine that you trust and that you can rely and that you can fall back on, and then you’re not looking back and you’re not looking ahead, you’re just doing what you’re supposed to be doing at this time on this day, and it helps you get so locked in. And I think, listen, that’s a learning process. I’m still, I’m still, you know, trying to find ways to refine that, maybe a little bit, and remind myself that those you know why those things are important.

Nestor Aparicio  22:34

Well, it’s easy to get distracted. I mean, you got kids, you got money, you got a life, you have interest. You know what? I mean, you have a million interest, like, it’s easy to just be distracted, but are you always thinking I’ll be distracted when I’m done playing? Right?

Joe Flacco  22:47

8

It’s not, it’s not even only those distractions. Like, there’s just a lot of pressure, like internal pressure, external pressure that comes with this business and and you have to you, you have to distract yourself from those things by by diving into your work a little bit. And I don’t want to say you don’t want to overdo it and be unhealthy with it, but I think having that routine distracts you from that weekly pressure of having to go out there and perform and everybody in the world judging you for it. You have to find ways to to remove yourself from that. And I think that’s why having a routine is so important.

Nestor Aparicio  23:21

So what’s the hardest part of parachuting like you get a call next week, McCarthy calls us, come be the Steelers. Got what the first thing that goes into your mind when you parachute into a situation, who’s the coach? What’s the offense? What like run me through when you get a call here, because you’ll get a call, somebody’s going to call you, several teams might call you, and then it’s, do I want A, B or C? In your case? What goes through your mind when you because I’m sure it’s even a little bit of my wife, the kids, the family. How far away is it I’m gonna play in Seattle or Arizona? It’s a little different than Cincinnati or

Joe Flacco  23:53

Indianapolis, right? I mean, listen, you’re drawing it all. You’re putting it all out there. I mean, I think he’s processed some of those things very quickly. And listen, there was a time, and who knows, I might still be in that time, where I’d get a call and, man, I’d be excited about the opportunity. Like, ooh, what can I? How could this go? I’m excited. Like, let me go work. Let me go show these guys who I am. Let me see how I can help this team out. So so a lot of the times when I was getting those calls, I was positive about everything. I’m at the point where I hope that I have the ability to to make a decision one, but also be in the right frame of mind and actually be able to, like, come up with some pros and cons and and if there aren’t enough pros, I hope I have the ability to say, You know what, guys like, I don’t want to do this. I’m going to go here, or I’m not going to do that, I’m going to stay at home. I want to truly be able to make that decision. But sometimes, when those opportunities present yourself, I’m still like. Positive spin guy, where I’m like, that’s a good opportunity, and I’m kind of blinded by the fact that maybe it’s not. So it’s one of those things that, you know, I really have to wait and see what those what those options are, if any, and then see how I react in those moments. All I can say at this point is that I hope I can kind of remove myself and and truly make a decision, not just, not just look at everything as a positive.

Nestor Aparicio  25:29

What do you do better now than you did on Super Bowl Sunday, 13 years ago, which is 13 years ago, day after tomorrow, by the way. So it’s all happy anniversary, unlucky 13, but pretty good that we’re still here and together.

8

Joe Flacco  25:39

I like that part. Wow. I think, listen, I think this is a quarterback’s a position where you just, you’re constantly learning. Now, it’s better when you’re playing, because you’re you’re constantly putting that to test and learning even more. But I, as much as I loved the game in my fifth year when we won that Super Bowl, I still don’t think I had the perspective and the maturity that I have now to like, truly appreciate where I’m at and what I’ve been able to do for the last 20 years. And I think that maturity and all that stuff has only strengthened my love for the game, and I think that that shows up, that shows up in the way that I put in work, and that shows up that the way I put in work in the offseason, and then that shows up the way I approach Sundays. You know, you’re not you’re less worried about certain things that can hold you back, and you’re more just focused on having fun and doing what you love and being out there with these guys and like having the opportunity to win a football game, and you realize how cool that is. And I think that that mindset really allows you to let it loose and play to your, you know, play to your, you know, your best ability.

Nestor Aparicio  27:06

What’s your favorite thing about life right now? Well, well, we all see that moment where you throw five touchdowns and the kids run down on the field. We think, Oh, it’s a Disney World moment. I’m like, dude’s got a couple 100 million bucks. He’s won a Super Bowl. He’s done a lot of things. I’m thinking there are things that don’t even happen on the field that are probably amongst your fate. You know, running around with your kids when there’s a foot of snow on Sundays probably, you probably smile a hell of a lot more than you actually do playing football.

Joe Flacco  27:34

I’m happy now that my kids are old enough that if they want to go sledding, I don’t necessarily have to gear up and go with them. I can, I can drop them off at the hill or or they can, they can, they can hike to the Hill,

Nestor Aparicio  27:45

8

parent or you. These are moments you’re missing. These are moments you’ll never get back again.

Joe Flacco  27:49

Joe, listen right now. I mean, I’m thrown right back into it. I honestly love the routine of the off season. I love driving my kids around. If I need to drop, they’re walking to school most of the time. But if I need to drop them at a friend’s house and let them walk to school and go do this and go do that, wake up in the morning with them, get them breakfast, I you know right now, they’re all playing basketball. My oldest is on this on the, you know, middle school wrestling team, along with his along with his basketball team and and going to those events is a lot of fun. I mean, you’re a little bit nervous and you want them to do well, but at the same time, it’s just so much fun. And here’s the thing you realize when you have kids, is that you do not have them for that long, and you learn how to, I don’t even think right away. You can truly appreciate that, but you really learn how to appreciate all the time you have with them and those little moments, because at some point you do realize, man, this is going to be gone and it’s and I’m going to have a completely new life a lot quicker than I that I would have realized so so dragging those guys around from school to practice the games, I really do enjoy it. I love my role, and I’m glad that I can be here for a good portion of the year while they’re doing those things. What do you do when it’s over? I have no idea. But listen, I the way I look at it is me and my wife are still going to be pretty young when it is all over and and, you know, and the kids are out of the house, and we’re going to have to find some kind of routine where we don’t want to.

Nestor Aparicio  29:22

I’ve been to Maui, and I know you can afford it. I’m just saying, I’m just saying, you know,

Joe Flacco  29:26

you know, I’m not that guy, though, man, I like being I like, where I’m at, you know, I even just going to Maui for vacations. Yeah, I like it. It’s good. But honestly, like, I’d rather just, like, have a slow day at home, you know, and wake up maybe in a half hour. I like the idea of sleeping in, but I won’t even sleep in like I like the idea of going to bed on a Friday night and saying, hey, you know what? If you want to sleep in till 10am you can. And then I wake up at 630 anyway, and it’s I got an

8

Nestor Aparicio  29:54

apartment when I was 23 we had a pool. I never laid at it. I couldn’t figure

Joe Flacco  29:58

it out. Yeah, exactly. I like my wife. Sure you know. So it’s, who knows what that’s going to be, but we’ll figure it out.

Nestor Aparicio  30:06

Joe Flacco is here. I Last thing we’re in Baltimore. I’m wearing purple from a planet fitness thing. We’re doing a couple Super Bowl next week. First of all, I always appreciate you coming back. And I don’t want to ask you why you come on my silly radio show or answer everybody’s calls in Baltimore. It only happens once a year. But the Baltimore thing, the fact that, like, I’m driving the Philly on Saturday and going to invite you to see Tommy Conwell over Wayne, if you want. And by the way, I got a great, great pork and cheese steak place in Italian beef right there by the bridge, and near Wilmington, I got to tell you about, but Baltimore, you know, like, it’s so close, I drive past your place a couple times a year. You’re thought of as Baltimore Harbaugh is now left, right, like all most of the guys, other Nazi, Eric, some of the people here, Basti, a lot of the people have left through all of this. What is your Baltimore thing?

Nestor Aparicio  30:53

8

And you pile the kids in the family Roach to bring them down for an Oriole game one day and throw out a pitch or like, what is your Baltimore connection the rest of your life? Being that like you and I could get in the car and meet in 30 minutes at the Waffle House and Elkton, if we wanted to, you know,

Joe Flacco  31:09

yeah, listen, it is very cool that I’m so close. I mean, obviously Baltimore is a different city than here, where I’m from, and kind of basically a Philadelphia suburb, but there’s so many similarities to the people are so similar to where I grew up with, and I’m so I’m so glad that I got to spend 11 years there, because the city did really grow on me. I mean, when you’re when you’re 23 and your head’s just down and you’re trying to, you know, take in as much as you can, I don’t think you can truly appreciate it, but the fact that I was able to be there for as long as I was, and have a couple kids there, and the city grew on me a ton. You know, I love the city, and I hope there’s, you know, I hope there’s, you know, a great role for me, you know. And I hope Baltimore is, you know, a place that I can always call home. We know when I am done playing, but you know, we’ll see, we’ll see what that is when I’m when I’m when I’m done doing what I’m doing, but it’s obviously always going to have that place and that homey feel for myself.

Nestor Aparicio  32:07

Well, at some point, there’ll be the ring, there’ll be the Joe Flacco day, and you’ll come out and you’ll do whatever dance you choose to do, or wave or whatever.

Joe Flacco  32:16

I’ve seen guys banging on that shield, and, man, I do not want to have to be the guy that carries that thing out there and does that. It’s so unlike me, I’m just gonna walk out and just say hi to everybody and, okay, that’s it. No, you won’t. Well, it’s just so awkward for me to do those things. You know, it’s not my personality picture with you know, it’s sometimes you have lapses in judgment where you just do stupid things.

8

Nestor Aparicio  32:45

Well, I hope you continue to do at least a few stupid things, like come back home. So there’ll be a 15 year or 20 year, 25 year. The best part for you with all that, and look, I’ve talked to Flynn and so, and those with the dilfers, a couple all of that, the children coming in and seeing what dad used to do. They’re all watching you actually do it, which is really weird and unique. But there’s going to come a point where you’ll come back here and they’ll do all the purple stuff for you. Your kids will be old enough to really dig it, right? Yeah.

Joe Flacco  33:14

Oh, of course, dude. They love every second of this. It’s a shame that they weren’t old enough to be, you know, real Baltimore fans and be involved in all that stuff that was going on at that time in my life? You know, because they don’t, they don’t know about that. They really don’t. And you can’t blame them. It’s, it’s, it’s hard to just watch videos and and put yourself in those moments when you’re in those moments and and you have the feelings that are involved with them, you know, they’re, they’re there for life. You have it for life, and that is the one thing. I mean, my kids have been able to have a great experience, and I’ve been able to have a great experience because of them, you know, enjoying the last five, six years. But it is. It’s a little bit of a shame that they weren’t quite old enough to really be there for that part, and they’re going to just have to kind of get what they can so. So I think those moments will be cool, because it’ll give them a little bit of a taste of maybe what they missed out on.

Nestor Aparicio  34:07

I’m gonna give you a chance to announce your retirement right now. I didn’t think you were so you think you’re gonna play? Believe you’re gonna play, Does your agent? You all believe there will be a spot for you in the league.

Joe Flacco  34:21

8

Oh, we’ll see, dude, I’m not, you know, I hope so, and I do think so, and I hope so too.

Nestor Aparicio  34:27

By the way, I love watching you play. Yeah, my life’s gonna be different when you stop playing. You know it is,

Joe Flacco  34:33

yeah, listen, but I do believe I am. It’s as simple as that. I mean, you just never know as a player, it’s not necessary. It’s kind of out of your hands to a certain extent. So I’m just trying to do what I can, and we’ll see what happens.

Nestor Aparicio  34:49

Come get a roast pork or cheese steak or something. Make some point here. I’m not eating any of that damn pizza without the cheese on it. What do you guys do up there? Tomato sauce on

8

Joe Flacco  34:58

the no tomato pie for you. Man, you got a good one. You can’t beat it.

Nestor Aparicio  35:03

Well, you have to show me. I haven’t met a good one yet. I give Philly a hard time, but I love Philly. You know that Joe Flacco is here in the pride of the east side of Philly, the Jersey side. He’ll be playing football somewhere on a television near you at some point. And come back home and say hello. Get a crab cake down here, Joe. It’s always good to visit with you. Man, yes, sir. With you. Man, yes, sir. All time favorite, not my all time favorite, number five, because Brooks is involved, but it is, but it’s a tie. It’s a tie, and Brooks, Brooks, would understand that as well. My thanks to everybody at the Maryland lot of throwing us out next week and doing a cup of soup or bowl. I will not be in Santa Clara. I’ll be in Catonsville, and I’ll be in Essex, and I’ll be in Timonium, all over the beltway, kicking it off next week with our friends at GBMC. I am Nestor. We are wnst. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore positive. Stay with us.