HIS RISE UP the projected NFL draft boards has been meteoric.
Yet somehow, quarterback Joe Flacco has been able to keep himself very grounded.
Perhaps that has to do with growing up in the small town of Audubon, N.J., where the eldest of Karen and Stephen Flacco's six children became a football god.
Or it could be due to the humbling experience he received at the University of Pittsburgh his first two seasons, when he barely was able to get his rifle arm behind center.
Most likely, though, is that Joe Flacco, the story of this year's NFL draft, is just a down-to-earth, one-day-at-a-time type of dude.
"Oh, it's been crazy, a lot of running around and stuff," Flacco said with about as much enthusiasm as a kid putting out the trash. "But now that it's coming down to the end, I'm just trying to relax and not get too excited."
The end of which he speaks is really the beginning of what is sure to be a whirlwind future. Flacco, the 6-6 1/2, 236-pound quarterback out of Audubon High and the University of Delaware, has completed the NFL Scouting Combine and individual workouts for NFL teams. So impressive was he during those workouts that it seems just about a lock he'll be taken in the first round on Saturday. He might even be the second quarterback picked overall, behind Boston College's Matt Ryan.
This past season for the Blue Hens, Flacco completed 331 of 521 passes (63.5 percent) for 4,263 yards. He threw 23 touchdowns and only five interceptions in leading Delaware to the Division I-AA national championship game, where they lost to Appalachian State (the team that beat Michigan early in the year, remember?). In that title game, Flacco threw for 334 yards and a TD.
"The thing about Joe is, he has ice water in his veins," Delaware coach K.C. Keeler said. "It doesn't matter whether he's playing in front of 50 or 50,000 people, he makes all the right decisions. The game goes in slow motion for him. I told every coach and player personnel director that if he was at USC, he'd be the No. 1 overall pick."
Having played at a non-Division I school could be the only legitimate knock on Flacco, who worked out for the Ravens, Falcons, Jets, Chiefs and Seahawks. But Keeler vehemently disagrees.
"Our offense that we ran will help him," Keeler said. "We change our protection on the line of scrimmage, and that all falls on Joe. He has to get his snap count, go to his reads, do a lot of things before the ball is even snapped. It's not the simplest offense to run."
