Larry Brown Sports

Joe Flacco has been chosen to play the role of legendary Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas in an upcoming film called “Unitas We Stand.” The film is being produced by Joe Unitas, Johnny’s son from a second marriage, and it has resulted in some serious family feuding.

For starter’s, Johnny grandson JC Unitas — a 24-year-old former Villanova quarterback — believes Flacco is a horrible choice to play the role of his grandfather. According to USA Today Sports, JC called it “embarrassing” that Flacco was chosen.

“If you want a real movie, hire a real actor,” JC wrote on Facebook. “My grandfather and his legacy deserves only the best, and this is not it. Has Baltimore forgotten that Trent Dilfer also won a Super Bowl while playing for Baltimore?”

JC’s outrage is shared by his father John Unitas Jr., who is Johnny Unitas’ eldest son from his first marriage and Joe Unitas’ half-brother. The film is being based on a book by Tom Callahan, and John Jr. feels that Callahan and Joe Unitas are simply trying to make a quick buck without consulting the rest of the family.

“It is awful. The guy’s a turd,” John Jr. reportedly told USA Today Sports. “(Callahan) never talked to me. He never talked to any of the first five children. He’s a guy that’s just making money off of my father.

“They’re trying to do anything on the coattails of my father’s name. It’s like prostituting yourself. My father would have nothing to do with it. It makes me angry, but there’s nothing I can do about it until they slip up. If they start selling some things with Johnny Unitas on it, then I have legal recourse.”

John Jr. also agreed with his son JC that Flacco is a poor choice for the role of the NFL legend, calling the Super Bowl MVP a “goofball.”

“If you want a quarterback, go with Peyton Manning,” John said. “My father was just like that. This is a joke.”

John Jr. has denied Joe’s request to sell t-shirts bearing the Unitas name. He also said he is considering taking legal action if Joe turns a profit with the movie. At this point, it seems like there is a lot to work out before the process is complete.

Perhaps Flacco’s loose association with this animated family feud will change his father’s opinion about him just a tad.

H/T Around the League
Photo Credit: Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

Ray Lewis has an unbridled enthusiasm for the game of football, and he is considered one of the best motivational speakers in sports. But the former Baltimore Ravens linebacker also has a tendency to go overboard with his speeches. His excessive show of emotion even led to him being mocked by the “Saturday Night Live” crew in January.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco even says Lewis’ speeches left him laughing at times.

“Oh, it’s funny,” Flacco told USA TODAY Sports on Saturday. “His speeches come from the heart, but there’s definitely times where I’m sitting there kind of chuckling to myself. It’s all good. There’s nobody that’s more passionate about what he does than that guy.

“So you just sit back and take it all in, but there’s times where he says some stuff and you’re like, ‘Man I don’t know what that meant, but I like how he said it.’”

When Flacco says Lewis’ speeches left him chuckling to himself, we’re sure he means that in an endearing way. As excessive as Lewis can be, his leadership inspired the Ravens. Terrell Suggs even said that Lewis’ retirement announcement helped spark the team’s Super Bowl run.

Flacco’s quote to USA Today came in the context of leadership for the Ravens. With Lewis on the team, Baltimore may have had the best leadership in the league for the past several seasons. Without him, others will need to emerge as team leaders. Flacco says that although he is not a vocal person, he will continue to lead through his play.

Even though we agree with Amani Toomer who says Lewis became a caricature of himself, we still have to credit the man for being an excellent speaker. If you haven’t seen them, you should watch this video of Lewis motivating Stanford’s basketball team last year, and this video of the moving eulogy Lewis delivered at Art Modell’s funeral.

Joe Flacco is every bit the “Average Joe” he appears to be.

While many athletes would be out celebrating at a club or fancy restaurant after signing a contract worth $52 million guaranteed, the Baltimore Ravens quarterback headed to the McDonald’s drive-thru to pick up some grub.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell says Flacco, who led the Ravens to a Super Bowl win in February, rolled through a McDonald’s in Aberdeen, Md., hours after signing his big contract with the team. His celebratory meal of choice? A 10-piece McNuggets meal with fries and a drink.

The story was related to Rovell by the McDonald’s employee who was working the drive-thru window. She even asked Flacco for his permission to take a photo, and he obliged.

Eating at normal places appears to be a regular thing for Flacco. According to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, Flacco was at family pizza night in New Jersey when his contract news broke on Friday.

Flacco sure has that “everyman” quality about him. That’s probably why his father called him “dull” before the Super Bowl.

Photo credit: Twitter/hjnorm

Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens agreed on a new contract that the Super Bowl-winning quarterback will sign on Monday, FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer reports.

Flacco’s contract situation has been a big topic of conversation around the NFL the past few years. The two sides were unable to reach agreement on a new deal the past two offseasons, leading Flacco to play last season as a contract year. He then had about as strong of a postseason as possible, ensuring that the Ravens would have to empty the vault to keep him longterm. They apparently have done that.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the deal between Flacco and the Ravens is for six years and $120.6 million. Schefter says the deal edges out Drew Brees’ five-year, $100 million contract signed before last season, making Flacco the highest-paid player in NFL history.

Despite his phenomenal postseason, most people would not consider Flacco the top player in the NFL, even though he is getting paid that way. However, Flacco is only 28, and he is entering his sixth season in the league, so it’s possible he’s just hitting his prime.

The big question, as is always the case with NFL contracts, is what kind of guarantees the contract calls for. As we’ve seen many times in the past (look at the contracts of Albert Haynesworth and Mike Vick for example), players can sign monster deals but get cut midway through the contract and never realize the entire amount.

Photo Credit: Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

Joe Flacco was so desperate to win the Super Bowl on Sunday that he was encouraging his teammates on the sidelines to tackle 49ers return man Ted Ginn Jr. if it looked like he was going to score on the game’s final play.

The Ravens were up 34-31 and punted on a free kick with four seconds left for what would ultimately be the last play of the game.

On NFL Films’ “Sound FX,” Flacco can be heard telling his teammates on the sidelines to tackle Ginn in case the returner broke one.

Here’s how his conversations went, as transcribed by Shutdown Corner:

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By leading the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl championship, Joe Flacco not only did the best possible thing he could do for the organization, but also for his own contract situation. Flacco will become a free agent this offseason, and there is no better leverage in contract negotiations than the Vince Lombardi trophy.

The 28-year-old is in for a massive payday, but how big are we talking? We already know he wants to stick it to Baltimore’s owners. And at the moment, Flacco’s agent Joe Linta believes his client deserves to be the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL.

“When you do a contract of this magnitude, you look at what is the player’s body of work presently,” Linta said, via Brian A. Shactman of CNBC. “And what are the expectations going forward over the next four, five or six years.

“Joe wins on both accounts.”

When asked if Flacco should be the league’s top earner at the quarterback position, Linta emphatically said that he should be. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees averages $20 million per season with his new deal, which means the Ravens would have to eclipse that number to put Flacco at the top. He would also make more than Peyton Manning if that happened, as Manning made $18 million with the Denver Broncos this past season.

Linta pointed to the fact that Flacco is several years younger than both Manning and Brees and has already won the same amount of championships. While Flacco and his agent have the hardware and age needed to prove their point, you have to assume at least some common sense will come into play.

Do the Ravens want to lose Flacco after what he just accomplished? Absolutely not, and they won’t. But you have to wonder if Flacco is capable of single-handedly leading his team to Super Bowls the way guys like Brees, Manning, and Tom Brady have. His record says he is. Statistics say he isn’t. If Baltimore’s defense slips as it gets older, will Flacco be able to carry the team? Quarterbacks who earn $20 million per year need to be able to do just that.

H/T Pro Football Talk

The Baltimore Ravens are Super Bowl champions, and Joe Flacco is the Super Bowl MVP. Most of us would not have predicted six months ago that this would happen, but that is the beauty of the NFL. While many have criticized Flacco for lacking personality and his own father even said he is a dull person, that isn’t stopping the 28-year-old from doing what Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks do.

On Monday night, Flacco appeared on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and was surprisingly funny and not awkward at all. Letterman did his job by asking some uncomfortable questions, and Flacco handled them quite well. For example:

Letterman: Tell me about this guy Ray Lewis — what’s his deal?
Flacco: (Laughs) Well half the time I don’t know but…
Letterman: Is he the spiritual leader of the team?
Flacco: Oh, yeah, he’s the leader in many ways, that definitely being one of them.
Letterman: And he uses deer hoof spray or something like that?
Flacco: (Laughing) You’ll have to ask him about that one, man.

The Ravens quarterback also joked about his contract situation and how the team’s owner is going to have to pay up, which is certainly true now that he has silenced the critics and led the team to a championship. In reality, the fact that Flacco keeps a low profile and rarely makes headlines for what he says is a positive thing for the team. Baltimore needs him to be a quarterback, not an entertainer.