The Cleveland Browns were in desperate need of a veteran leader last season, and they did their due diligence to get one of the best available.
Joe Flacco took his talents back to the AFC North to play for a team he was used to beating, and it didn’t take long before he made the fans buy-in.
He wound up running away with the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award, proving that he was far from done.
And even though he was far from his best in the playoff loss to the Houston Texans, he showed that he could still have a role in the league.
Recently, he made an appearance on the ALL City NFL podcast to address that situation, stating that it’s crazy to realize how much you actually miss the game when you’re away from it. (via ALLCITY NFL on Twitter).
We had the pleasure of having the #CPOY @JoeFlacco join @baldynfl and @AnthonyLGargano on the @allcity_nfl podcast to talk about his year coming back to football and what it meant for him to play for the #browns @clevelandbrowns
FULL EPISODE: https://t.co/ODI59JtMa1
Make sure… pic.twitter.com/vR6ivT67oq
— ALLCITY NFL (@ALLCITY_NFL) February 21, 2024
He talked about how getting back on the field and going through practice made him understand how much he wanted to be back out there, regardless of his role.
Flacco added that as much as football is just a game, it’s also his livelihood and his job, so not doing what you’ve done for so long obviously requires an adjustment.
That’s why so many former athletes struggle in life after sports.
They’ve defined themselves as pro athletes for so long that they literally don’t know who they are anymore once they’re no longer on the field.
Hopefully, Flacco will get another chance to do what he loves the most and prolong his career a little longer; he earned it.
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