Joe Flacco

Early life

Flacco was born on January 16, 1985, in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, and raised in nearby Audubon, New Jersey, the eldest of six children to Karen (née Madden) and Steve Flacco. The Flacco family is originally from Haddon Township, New Jersey. Flacco played football, baseball, and basketball at Audubon High School and was the starting quarterback for the Green Wave. Regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was listed as No. 39 among quarterback prospects in the class of 2003.

Pittsburgh

Flacco was redshirted as a freshman for the Pittsburgh Panthers football team that went 8–5 in 2003.

In 2004, Flacco was the backup quarterback behind starter Tyler Palko, who led the team to an 8–4 record. He saw action in three games against the Ohio Bobcats, Nebraska Cornhuskers, and South Florida Bulls football. Flacco threw four passes and finished the season with one completion for 11 yards and a 25-yard punt.

Delaware

Flacco, still listed behind Palko on the depth chart, decided to transfer to the University of Delaware in 2005. Not only was he ineligible to play that season, he also had to pay to go to Delaware as Pittsburgh would not release him from his scholarship. He saw his first full-time action during the 2006 season, throwing for 2,783 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. The Fightin' Blue Hens ultimately struggled to a 5–6 record and failed to qualify for the FCS playoffs.

In the 2007 season, Flacco led his team to an 8–3 regular-season record while compiling 4,263 yards, 23 touchdowns, and five interceptions.Arguably his best game came against Navy, where Flacco threw for 434 yards and four touchdowns. He showed another solid performance in the first-ever meeting against the Delaware State Hornets in the first round of the playoffs. Behind Omar Cuff's record-setting day, Flacco threw efficiently for 189 yards and a touchdown, leading the Blue Hens to a 44–7 victory. Flacco continued Delaware's playoff run by upsetting the Northern Iowa Panthers 39–27 in the FCS quarterfinals and upsetting the Southern Illinois Salukis 20–17 the following week in the semifinals. Flacco threw two touchdowns to win against both the Panthers and Salukis, but went on to lose in the FCS National Championship Game to the Appalachian State Mountaineers 49–21.

Flacco set 20 school records during his career at Delaware.

Endorsements

Flacco signed a three-year contract with Reebok as a rookie in 2008. In 2009–2010, Flacco was a spokesperson for Pizza Hut, which sold a product called "Flacco's Favorites". Flacco has also endorsed Nike and 1st Mariner Bank, as well as Haribo since January 2013. Also in 2013, Flacco signed an endorsement deal with McDonald's to promote their new menu item, the Mighty Wings. Flacco has also teamed up with opendorse to promote a Zynga mobile application called "NFL Showdown: Football Manager" as well as a line of women's apparel for Spirit Football Jersey.

Personal life

Flacco married his wife Dana in a Catholic ceremony in 2011, at the same church where his parents were married. Together they have five children; their first child, a son, was born in June 2012. Their second son was born September 15, 2013, about an hour before the start of the Ravens' home opener. Their third son was born in January 2015, which caused Flacco to decline his Pro Bowl invitation due to the two events' proximity. Their fourth son was born in April 2018. The Flaccos' only daughter was born in September 2016.

While playing for the Ravens, Flacco lived in the Baltimore suburb of Reisterstown, Maryland, until selling his home for $1.6 million in 2019 after being traded to the Denver Broncos.

Flacco is the oldest of the five boys in his family. His brothers are Mike, John, Brian, and Tom; he also has a sister, Stephanie. His brother Mike was selected in the 31st round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft by the Baltimore Orioles. Another brother, John, was a walk-on receiver with the Stanford Cardinal football team. Joe's youngest brother, Tom Flacco, enrolled in 2015 at Western Michigan University, where he played quarterback for two seasons before transferring to Rutgers in 2017 and then Towson in 2018. In 2021, Tom was signed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.

In a survey by Fanatics in January 2017, Flacco was elected as the most attractive player in the NFL.

In 2018, Flacco made a donation of an undisclosed amount to University of Delaware athletics. It was the largest donation from a Delaware alumnus in the NFL. On May 25, 2024, Flacco received an honorary doctorate degree in Humane Letters from his alma mater, the University of Delaware.

In 2026, Flacco and his family were featured in the third season of the Netflix documentary series Quarterback.