Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback Joe Flacco Accomplishes Something For First Time In NFL History
If you had Joe Flacco make his first Pro Bowl in 2026 on your NFL bingo card, you are lying. Go buy a lottery ticket immediately, because nobody saw this coming.
We need to have a serious conversation about the timeline we are living in. Flacco, a man who has seemingly been in the NFL since the invention of the forward pass, has finally secured the one honor that eluded him for nearly two decades. He has a Super Bowl ring. He has a Super Bowl MVP trophy. But until this Friday, he had zero Pro Bowl nods.
That changed when the NFL announced that the 41-year-old gunslinger was added to the AFC roster. And honestly? It is the most perfect, bizarre ending to one of the weirdest seasons in recent memory.
A Season Stranger Than Fiction
Let’s rewind the tape on Flacco’s 2025 campaign because it reads like bad fan fiction. He started the year with the Cleveland Browns. That alone feels like a fever dream. But then, in a move that usually defies the laws of AFC North physics, he was traded in October to the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bengals were reeling. Joe Burrow was down with turf toe. The season looked like it was circling the drain. This wasn’t just a “manage the game and hand the ball off” situation. Flacco was slinging it.
In 13 total games between the two Ohio rivals, he put up 2,479 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. When you isolate his run with the Bengals, the numbers get even crazier. From Week 6 to Week 12, the man ranked second in the entire NFL in completions and fifth in passing yards.
Flacco and the “Dad Energy”
There is something undeniably charming about watching Flacco play football in his 40s. In an era of dual-threat quarterbacks who run 4.4 40s and hurdle linebackers, Flacco stands in the pocket like a statue that occasionally launches a laser beam 60 yards downfield.
He represents the old guard. He’s the guy at the YMCA pickup game who doesn’t move much but drains every three-pointer in your face.
The funniest part of this Pro Bowl selection? The company he keeps. Flacco joins Shedeur Sanders on the AFC roster. To put this in perspective: Joe Flacco was drafted in 2008. Sanders was six years old. Flacco has been throwing touchdowns since before the iPhone App Store was a big deal. Seeing them side-by-side on the roster is a reminder of just how long Flacco has managed to survive in a league that usually chews players up and spits them out within three years.
The Browns’ Accidental Flex
Here is a trivia nugget that will likely surface at pub nights in Cleveland for years to come: The Browns technically have two quarterbacks in this Pro Bowl. Since Flacco started the year in Cleveland and Sanders is currently there, the Browns’ quarterback room is weirdly well-represented.
But make no mistake, Flacco is representing the Bengals. He joins teammates Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, reuniting the trio that somehow kept Cincinnati afloat when the sky was falling.
Is Flacco Elite? Case Closed
For years, the debate raged. It was an internet joke, a serious sports radio argument, and a philosophical question. Is Joe Flacco elite?
Looking at his resume now, you have to just laugh and nod. He’s got the ring. He’s got the longevity. He’s got the Comeback Player of the Year hardware. And now, finally, after 18 seasons of grinding, he has the Pro Bowl patch on his jersey. He told reporters he isn’t thinking about retirement yet. Why would he? He just had one of the most efficient stretches of his career, while old enough to be the father of the guys trying to sack him.
