Working in sports media can often entail unconventional workdays and unconventional hours, and that certainly applies to NFL players like Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco.
Take last Thursday night's masterpiece of a Flacco performance in Cincinnati's 33-31 win over the Steelers. Kickoff was after 8 p.m. ET, and he had postgame interview obligations that wrapped up past midnight. Not ideal prime working hours for your average 40-year-old married man with five children.
Speaking of family life, Flacco took the podium to address the media on Wednesday and spoke about the chaotic transition from the Browns to the Bengals once he was traded. It's among the better soundbites of the NFL season so far.
Joe Flacco is so cool? Bengals fans are probably bugging out after rooting against him for so many years on the Ravens (and Browns)?
Call that boldfaced subheading an, "I'm Ron Burgundy?" homage, or maybe just my own mind melting over the fact that I'm in a position where I'm actually rooting for Joseph Vincent Flacco.
Joe Flacco is somehow a hilarious quote, super relatable, and in the running for QBs you'd like to grab an adult beverage with? Especially after the silver-lining scenario he described of being away from his family in a new city since being traded from Cleveland.
Flacco did acknowledge how lonely it can get to be away from his family, yet he also saw the bright side of being on his own for a change, via FOX19's Joe Danneman.
"I used to see guys sitting at the bar by themselves eating and I used to feel so bad for them and now I realize that dude was in heaven."
— Joe Danneman (@FOX19Joe) October 22, 2025
Not many of us can relate with being on a new team, in a new city, without our family, but many of us can relate to this. pic.twitter.com/FhSgSe6Jd8
"I tell people all the time, I used to see guys sitting at a bar by themselves, or sitting by themselves eating, and grabbing a little meal like, 'Man, I feel so bad for that guy.' You almost want to go join him. And now I realize, like, that dude was in heaven. [...] I'd rather be sitting at home with my kids, [...] but if you have to do it, then you might as well take advantage of it."
As somebody who used to get triggered when the late, otherwise-great Greg Gumbel used to gush over Young Baltimore Joe Flacco as, and I quoth, "Tall, dark, and handsome", this feels like an alternate universe. Surely Flacco in a Bengals uniform, on his third different AFC North team, can't be real, can it?
Flacco was never an outspoken player in his Ravens heyday. More of a lead by example field general who let his play do the talking. Did Rahim Moore's historically bad play on a deep ball basically define the apex of Joe Flacco's legacy? Yes. In my opinion. But I digress.
In one of the biggest plot twists these eyes have ever seen covering the NFL/sports in general for many years, Flacco is this outspoken, super cool guy. He's at a point in his career where he's soaking in every moment, contemplating just how grateful he is to be an NFL starter at 40 years young.
We'll see if Flacco can back up his awesome, 342-yard passing performance from Week 7 this Sunday against a New York Jets defense that's allowed only 13 points in each of their last two losses.
The Jets are 0-7, and their QB situation is a mess. Flacco played for Gang Green once upon a time, but is now in a miles-better setup throwing to the likes of Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
One season after New York let Flacco walk, he led the Browns to the playoffs. Cleveland turned around and traded him this year, and he'll try to do the same for the Bengals. Funny how the NFL works, eh?