Joe Flacco scoffed.
The Cleveland Browns quarterback had just been asked why the media — and the outside world, really — make such a big deal about the idea that veteran quarterbacks are supposed to be mentors. He’s not a mentor. He’ll be the first to tell you that.
Flacco’s frustration isn’t just with the question itself. It was fairly presented. His issue is that the topic often finds a way to corner veteran quarterbacks into a no-win narrative, one that often prioritizes optics over honesty.
And if Flacco is anything at this stage in his career, it’s plenty honest.
@sports.illustrated The journeyman quarterback called out the media for putting him in a tough spot. (via @Cleveland Browns) #joeflacco #clevelandbrowns #qb ♬ original sound – Sports Illustrated
“It’s a talking point… It’s a good question to bait somebody into answering,” Flacco said. “And no matter how they answer it, it kind of makes the guy answering it look bad. If I say, ‘I don’t want to be a mentor,’ I look bad. If I say, ‘I do want to be a mentor,’ I look like an idiot that doesn’t care about being good and playing football. It’s one of those questions that no matter what I say, you guys can write what you want to write about it. And there’s a lot of questions like that. That’s why you end up having to try to avoid them.
“I tend to try to be honest. And I’ve said, ‘I’m not a mentor; I play football.’ And in a quarterback room, there are a lot of times. Already, there have been a ton of times where there have been learning experiences, and I have a lot of experience. And I can talk on things. And, hopefully, they listen. But it’s not necessarily my job to make sure they listen to me. You know, hey, hopefully, you have a really good relationship with the guys that are in the room. And you naturally want to do that.”
It was a long-winded answer, but that’s the point.
The 40-year-old Flacco has been asked this question before, and he knows how it goes. He’s seen this script play out with Lamar Jackson. With Drew Lock. With Zach Wilson. And now it’s starting again, this time with Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, two rookie quarterbacks who won’t lack for — and already haven’t lacked for — media fodder. And let’s not forget there’s still a 26-year-old Kenny Pickett in the room, too.
Flacco’s not being combative for the sake of it. He’s just telling the truth the way a guy with two decades in the league tends to do. And his point isn’t that mentoring is bad or beneath him. It’s that the expectation itself is flawed, especially when it becomes a litmus test for character.
The way he sees it, the “mentor” question isn’t really about football; it’s about optics. Say you don’t want to mentor; you’re selfish. Say you do, and suddenly, people are wondering if you’ve already accepted that your best football is behind you. Those like Flacco view it as a media trap disguised as a feel-good talking point.
And while Flacco clearly understands the value of experience and relationships in a quarterback room, he’s pushing back on the idea that it’s his job to guide someone else’s career arc. Help? Sure. Lead? Maybe. But force-feed wisdom to a kid who may or may not want it? That’s not his responsibility, and he’s not pretending otherwise just because it sounds nice.
Flacco’s been in this movie before. He knows how the headlines go. And if his answer seemed a little long, that’s only because he’s seemingly tired of having to explain what he thinks should be obvious.