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Ben BabyOct 16, 2025, 06:00 AM ET
- Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the institution successful July 2019. Prior to ESPN, helium worked for assorted newspapers successful Texas, astir precocious astatine The Dallas Morning News wherever helium covered assemblage sports. He provides regular sum of the Bengals for ESPN.com, portion making appearances connected SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A autochthonal of Grapevine, Texas, helium graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's grade successful journalism. He is an adjunct journalism prof astatine Southern Methodist University and a subordinate of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
CINCINNATI -- As a young NFL quarterback, Joe Flacco had a fig successful caput that signaled what a agelong and palmy vocation successful the league mightiness look like.
But the much games and seasons helium banked, helium realized helium mightiness person acceptable the barroom a interaction excessively low.
The fig was 15, which helium reached 3 years ago.
The antheral who entered the league arsenic a clean-shaven imaginable retired of the University of Delaware present sports a beardown spot of grey successful the stubble astir his chin. Flacco is 40. And connected Thursday, he'll beryllium the younger of the 2 starting quarterbacks.
Aaron Rodgers is 41. And erstwhile the 2 quadrate disconnected successful an AFC North contention betwixt Flacco's Cincinnati Bengals and Rodgers' Pittsburgh Steelers connected Thursday (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video), it'll beryllium somewhat historic. They volition beryllium conscionable the 2nd backmost pairing successful the Super Bowl epoch to commencement against each different arsenic 40-year-olds, thing Drew Brees and Tom Brady did 3 times during the 2020 season.
"The biggest happening that I've learned successful presumption of wanting to play a agelong clip successful your vocation is that you've made a determination that football's important to you," Flacco said this week. "Somewhere wrong of you, you've told yourself that you privation to play a agelong time."
Ten days ago, Thursday's matchup betwixt these 2 seemed improbable.
Flacco started 4 games this play for the Cleveland Browns earlier helium was benched successful favour of rookie Dillon Gabriel heading into a Week 5 crippled against the Minnesota Vikings. Cincinnati, with a request astatine backmost aft Jake Browning struggled to capable successful for the injured Joe Burrow, made the uncommon determination of trading wrong the AFC North to marque Flacco a starter again. After a dilatory start, Flacco threw for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns successful a nonaccomplishment against the Green Bay Packers connected Sunday.
Rodgers' concern is not overmuch different. After spending his archetypal 18 seasons with Green Bay, helium played the 2023-24 seasons with the New York Jets. He tore his close Achilles successful the 2023 opener and had a comparatively nondescript 2nd season. The Jets released Rodgers successful the offseason earlier helium joined the Steelers. His archetypal crippled with his caller nine was a 34-32 triumph implicit the Jets.
"There were astir apt radical successful the enactment that didn't deliberation I could play anymore," Rodgers told reporters aft the game. "So, it was bully to punctual those radical that I inactive can."
Flacco and Rodgers person notable things successful common. Like Brees and Brady, some were Super Bowl MVPs. Each subordinate besides has a beardown throwing arm, an plus that Bengals manager Zac Taylor believes helped play a relation successful their agelong careers.
"I cognize [Flacco] inactive got a batch of po...
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