Franchise legend finally returns to face former team as Browns QB
- Quarterback Joe Flacco will lead the Cleveland Browns against the Baltimore Ravens, the team he played for from 2008-2018.
- Flacco, a Ravens legend who won a Super Bowl with the team, has the utmost respect from current Ravens players and coaches.
- This will be Flacco’s second time facing his former team, but it will mark the first time he’s playing them as a visitor at M&T Bank Stadium.
Kyle Hamilton was only on his way to complimenting and showing respect to Joe Flacco. But the truth makes it sound worse, even in the most innocent way.
“Growing up – I’m not trying to age (him)– but just watching him,” the Ravens safety, 26, told reporters this week, “he was always known for his arm and just his deep pass. He’s still got that.
“Respect to him being in this league and still starting in this league still. I’m sure it’ll be cool for him coming back to Baltimore.”
Flacco, 40, is the second-oldest starting quarterback in the league, behind the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers. On Sunday, he’ll lead the Cleveland Brown in an AFC North matchup he is familiar with, except from the opposite side.
Flacco spent 11 seasons with the Ravens after they drafted him in the first round (18th overall) in 2008. He owns the franchise record for most victories as a quarterback and helped bring the franchise – which moved to Baltimore from Cleveland in 1996 – its second Lombardi Trophy with one of the most memorable postseason runs in NFL history. Shortly, he is a Ravens legend.
“What an amazing run, and what an era for the Ravens, the ‘Joe Flacco era,’” Ravens head coach Joe Flacco said. “ … He’s iconic, I think, in Baltimore football history. I respect that and admire that and still keep in touch with him. Except not this week.”
It won’t be the first time Flacco faces his former team. As the New York Jets’ Week 1 starter in 2022, he threw for 300 yards in a 24-9 Baltimore road victory.
“I definitely think playing them in the past and getting that kind of getting that little bit out of the way, I do think that was probably – even though it wasn’t in Baltimore, like just from playing the Baltimore Ravens, like getting that out of the way already will make this a little bit easier,” Flacco told reporters.
Flacco departed Baltimore on “good terms,” he said. In 2018, the Ravens drafted two-time MVP Lamar Jackson with the final pick of the first round. By all accounts, Flacco handled the transition with professionalism; Jackson took over by the end of the season, which ended with the wild card loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
To Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, a rookie on that 2018 team, Flacco taught him what it looked like to be a pro.
“That’s the type of person and type of player he is. And for him to still be in the league and doing his thing and playing really well, it’s awesome to see.
“I just remember we had a good tight end group, and he loved his tight ends. But just being able to joke before the games, it was always very casual, very fun, and there were just constant jokes and having a good time.”
Jackson and Flacco don’t keep in touch much. But in Cleveland, Flacco maintains a mentoring aspect of his job. The Browns drafted two quarterbacks in 2025 in Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders and both have sought out his guidance.
For Flacco, it’s nothing but love for the franchise and the city.
“It’s one of those things, like, in the NFL, there’s a business side of it and things happen. I’m fortunate to be where I am today and be in this position, but I have nothing but love for that city and for that organization. I mean, I was a small school guy that they took a little bit of a chance on early on in the draft.
“I have so many good memories with those people in that city and that stadium, so very special place.”
Flacco’s journey took him to the Denver Broncos for one season followed by three years with the Jets. His first Browns stint came in 2023, when Deshaun Watson’s season-ending shoulder injury in November of that season prompted the team to sign Flacco straight from the school pickup lane. Cleveland went 4-1 in his five starts and the Browns earned the top wild-card seed but fell to the Houston Texans in the playoffs. For his abbreviated efforts, Flacco won the 2023 Comeback Player of the Year award. He relieved Anthony Richardson with the Indianapolis Colts for six starts last season before signing a deal with the Browns this past offseason.
It’s been a while since his Baltimore days, Flacco said.
“I think I’m very capable of just seeing it as another division game,” the University of Delaware product said. “But it will be cool to go back in that stadium. I haven’t had a chance to do it since I played there. I really love playing there. It’s an awesome place to play. It’s an awesome venue. It’s an awesome atmosphere.”
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A fun wrinkle is that calling the plays for the Ravens’ defense is one of Flacco’s former Baltimore teammates, defensive coordinator Zach Orr, who remembers Flacco as a teammate who “was one of the guys” and loved talking about basketball and playing cornhole.
“It’s crazy that he’s still playing, and he’s still playing at a high level,” Orr said. “He’s a starting quarterback. The challenges he does pose is that he’s a veteran, so there is not a lot of stuff you’re going to be able to throw at him that he hasn’t seen. You have to make it as difficult as possible for him. And then, there is a reason why he’s still in this league. His arm talent is still legit. He can still push the ball down the field at a very accurate and dangerous rate.”
Both of Flacco’s interceptions in the Browns’ Week 1 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals hit his intended receiver in the hands. He completed 31 of 45 attempts for 290 yards in the 17-16 defeat.
The Ravens, meanwhile, are coming off a disastrous meltdown against the Buffalo Bills in a game Baltimore blew, 41-40.
Flacco will head to the field for warmups maybe 10 minutes earlier to leave time for his hellos, he said. Family and friends will drive to the game from his native New Jersey.
“A lot of people that have a lot of memories watching me play in that stadium. So, I think it’s kind of cool for them,” Flacco said. “Yeah, I got to prepare to play another football game, but I think when you look at, like, the outside of it, there’s going to be some people that kind of get to have some fun with this.”
