The Super Bowl victory tour has taken Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco from New Orleans to Orlando to New Jersey to New York City, where he finished a whirlwind day with an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman (which tapes much earlier than 11:30 p.m. ET).
And while Flacco is far closer to Eli Manning than Peyton on the natural charisma spectrum, Flacco showed enough personality to allow him to start cashing in off the field -- but not to the extent Flacco will cash in on the field. More importantly, Flacco continues to prove that, contrary to his father’s opinions, Flacco isn’t dull.
For example, Letterman at one point asked, “Tell me about this guy Ray Lewis. What’s his deal?”
“Well, half the time I don’t know,” Flacco said, laughing. “But come Sunday, he has something special.”
Is that something special “deer hoof spray,” as Letterman described it?
“You’d have to ask him about that one, man,” Flacco said.
On slightly meatier subjects, Flacco said he’ll have no concerns having his infant son (and any others he may have) play football.
“No doubt about it,” Flacco said. “I don’t know if he’ll ever be able to play at the level that we play at. But football’s a great sport, and it’s the reason why I’m able to live the life I live today and the reason he’s gonna grow up the way he grows up.”
Flacco said the he never has had a concussion; “I haven’t been knocked out, but I’ve been knocked down,” Flacco said.
And brainpower apparently isn’t as important as fans would think.
“An NFL playbook is much easier than people make it out to be,” Flacco said.
“You’re hurting yourself a little in that contract negotiation,” Letterman observed.
It was a funny line, but the proverbial hay is already in the barn. The only question left is how much Flacco will get paid for it -- and whether he’ll have to withhold services in order to get what he wants.
Until then, maybe Flacco can host Saturday Night Live.
[Editor’s note: Since there was no studio photo of Flacco with Letterman, we opted for a picture of Flacco rubbing the head of Letterman employee “Biff” Henderson. And, yes, that’s Rich Eisen in the background, possibly remarking to Flacco, “You’re better than that.”]