Joe Flacco isn't worried about having a Pro Bowl appearance next to his name.
The seventh-year quarterback declined an invitation to this week's all-star game to be with his wife, who is due this month to give birth to the couple's third child. This would have been Flacco's first Pro Bowl appearance.
Flacco did miss the birth of his second son, Daniel, because of a regular-season game last year and he didn't want to do that again.
Instead, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton will head to Arizona for the game.
Flacco has plenty of other accolades to his name – he's a Super Bowl MVP and is the only quarterback in NFL history to win a playoff game in each of his first five seasons – but the Pro Bowl has been an elusive honor.
He received the invitation this year as an alternate after Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady had to pull out of the game because of injuries or the Super Bowl.
Flacco finished the regular season with the best year of his career, throwing for 3,986 yards, 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also guided the Ravens offense to franchise highs in yardage and points scored.
