It's July and there's not too much going on before training camp.
Thus, it's time to dig into the files of some of the Ravens' most popular players to see what fans may or may not know about their favorites.
First up is quarterback Joe Flacco:
He wanted to play college baseball
Coming out of high school, one of the big questions Flacco had for colleges during his recruitment was whether they would let him play baseball if he wanted to. He still wanted to play baseball when he transferred from Pittsburgh to Delaware, but the school wasn't on board with his idea.
He used to ride the bench
Before he went to the University of Delaware, Flacco played at the University of Pittsburgh. He redshirted as a freshman in 2003, then was Tyler Palko's backup in 2004. That season, he had just as many punts as completions (one of each), and had more rushing attempts (six) than passes (four).
Some not-so-interesting hobbies
Last year, the Ravens offensive linemen were trying to come up with a Christmas gift idea for Flacco. They asked him what he does in his time off. Flacco responded, "I hang out in my basement." So the linemen pitched in to get him a pinball machine for his basement. He also likes to collect game balls, especially ones from Breast Cancer Awareness week with the pink ribbon.
He comes from a big, athletic family
Joe is the oldest of six Flacco kids. Next is Mike, who spent three years in the Baltimore Orioles' minor league system. Then there's John, a redshirt junior wide receiver on Stanford's football team. Brian is a wrestler. The lone sister, Stephanie, is a field hockey and basketball star at Audubon High School. Youngest brother, Tommy, is a rising senior quarterback who is starting to draw Division I attention.
He used to live with his folks, and a Tom Brady poster
Flacco says he wasn't really a fan of one specific team growing up. He was a Joe Montana admirer, and even tied his postseason record with 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions. But according to Flacco's college coach, K.C. Keeler, Flacco spent his first two NFL offseasons at his parent's house in New Jersey, where he shared a room with his brother that had a Tom Brady poster on the wall.
