NOW The Kid ventures into uncharted waters, into a treacherous place where bloodthirsty black-and-gold sharks lay in wait.
Sixty minutes from history, 60 minutes from the chance to become the first rookie quarterback to start a Super Bowl, it is sink-or-swim for Joe Flacco, who in and around Baltimore has been mistaken for the great Michael Phelps, and better have a gold-medal game in him tomorrow at Heinz Field against the Steelers to live to tell about it.
Every step of the way on this magic carpet ride, this towering wunderkind they call Joe Cool, whose sleepy demeanor makes Eli Manning seem like Joba Chamberlain on caffeine, who last year at this time was merely a Division I-AA prospect out of Delaware, has shrugged his shoulders amidst the thundering drumbeat of rising expectations and told us over and over: “It’s just football,” and “It’s just another game.”
Except this one, this one isn’t another game.
This isn’t Appalachian State, which denied Joe Cool a championship a year ago, on the other side.
This is the maniacal Steel Curtain, whipped into a frenzy not only by its seething hatred for Joe Cool’s Ravens, but also by Terrible Towel-waving fanatics, on the other side.
This is the game that devoured Big Ben Roethlisberger when he tried to make history four years ago as a rookie and the Patriots intercepted him three times and whipped him 41-27 in his own backyard.
This is the game that swallowed up Shaun King when the former Bucs quarterback tried to make history nine years ago as a rookie and the Rams intercepted him twice in an 11-6 victory in St. Louis.
This is the game that freezes . . . ices . . . Joe Cool.
It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t root for the kid, who has made it so easy to be Whacko for Flacco.
“Joe is just so down to earth,” his college coach, K.C. Keeler, told baltimoreexaminer.com. “If Joe Namath was ‘Broadway Joe,’ then Joe Flacco is ‘Off-Broadway Joe.’ “
Or just an Ordinary Joe.
“I asked him one time why he never pounds his chest or points a finger into the crowd,” Keeler told the Philadelphia Daily News. “He told me if he did that, his family would kill him. His brothers would think he was a dork.”
Flacco, who turned 24 yesterday, is a football gym rat who has earned the respect of that Ray Lewis-Ed Reed-Terrell Suggs crew.
“I know the makeup of that team,” Troy Aikman said. “I know the veteran presence they have, and it’s not an easy group to impress, and he’s done that.”
He’s done that with his unflappability. “Once one good play or bad play is gone, he lets it go,” Lewis said. “A lot of guys can’t do that.”
The game is not too big for Joe Cool, because he is so prepared.
“You read his eyes, and there is nothing to read,” tight end Todd Heap said.
He is the antithesis of the celebrity quarterback. And Joe Cool doesn’t do the things that cause you to lose the game, a la Brett Favre in December: no interceptions in two playoff games and just five in his past 13 games.
“You can hit him in the mouth 10 times, and he’ll get back up, stand in the pocket and make the throw,” wide receiver Mark Clayton said.
Or take off and run. “He’s not a typical rookie,” Michael Strahan said. “He’s just out there playing. You can see the guys trust him out there.”
His Joba-like fastball helps.
“The question I always ask about a young quarterback is: Can the guy really throw it?” Dan Marino said.
“That’s the one thing to me that is so impressive about Joe Flacco – his arm strength and his ability to put it on the line.”
He has stared steely-eyed into the glare of the postseason, and it has been something to see.
But last time against the Steelers, he was 11-for-28 for 115 yards and two interceptions in a 13-9 home loss.
This time, Joe Cool blinks.
This time, Joe Cool sinks.