Joe Flacco was showered with love by Cleveland Browns fans on Thursday night.
And one of his former teammates seemed in complete shock.
After the 38-year-old lit up the Jets for 309 passing yards and three touchdowns to lead the Browns to a 37-20 win and into the playoffs, he met on the field with New York linebacker C.J. Mosley, a teammate of Flacco’s with both Gang Green and the Ravens.
As the two hugged it out on the field and the Jet defender congratulated his old friend, Mosley seemed in disbelief that it was Cleveland of all places that was chanting Flacco’s last name.
“Who would’ve thought the f–king Browns would be screaming your name? That s–t crazy,” Mosely said.
Flacco agreed that it was “crazy” as he donned an ear-to-ear smile and patted the linebacker’s head.
Having played 11 years with rival Ravens, who themselves bolted from Cleveland in 1996 for Baltimore, Flacco terrorized the new iteration of the Browns, going 18-3 against them during his career.
More recently as a member of the Jets, he led a thrilling come-from-behind win over the Bears in Week 2 last season, crushing Cleveland’s hearts again.
But now, Flacco is making the Dog Pound a happy bunch as he’s putting the Browns back into the playoffs since 2020.
After the game, Flacco spoke with reporters that hearing his name was “cool.”
“I’ve said from the very beginning, this city had been unbelievable,” Flacco said. “My teammates have been unbelievable in terms of embracing me onto this football team.”
The signal-caller said in September that he could “still play,” but he did not receive a call from the Jets or any other team.
But when the Browns faced injuries to Deshaun Watson and Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Flacco got the call from Cleveland and has handled the job with aplomb.
Flacco has thrown for more than 300 yards in four straight games and has helped the Browns become the first team to make the playoffs after starting four different quarterbacks.
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