Did Joe Flacco do the Mannequin Challenge?
Yes, Flacco really did the Mannequin Challenge.
The Ravens' mild-mannered quarterback actually broke it out twice in the Ravens' 28-7 win over the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football.
He froze his go-to celebratory fist pump after a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Darren Waller, then stopped time during a high-five with fullback Kyle Juszczyk after a successful two-point conversion.
"I probably looked like a big-time idiot, and I'll get made fun of when I go upstairs to see my family and all that, but it was fun," Flacco said.
Leave it to his best friend …
"I thought it was pretty lame," tight end Dennis Pitta joked.
Flacco said he got the idea when players were talking about it in the locker room. Pitta said recently re-signed wide receiver Michael Campanaro may have been the one to bring it up.
During pre-game introductions for Thursday night's game, somebody told running back Terrance West to do it as he came running out of the tunnel. Flacco jumped on board.
"I said, 'You know what, if I score a touchdown today, I'm going to do a spike, and I'm going to stop midway and just freeze," Flacco said. "When I threw my touchdown pass, I said, 'You know what, I've got to do it. I said I was going to do something, I'm going to do it.'"
The best part may be that Flacco was warned by a referee after the second freeze-frame celebration with Juszczyk. The referee said he may have been close to a planned celebration with a teammate, which has been banned.
A ref warning Flacco for too much celebration? That has to be a first.
"Like I said, I probably looked like an idiot," he said. "But that's part of having fun. When you're out there and you're winning football games, it's a lot of fun."
Flacco wasn't the only Raven to get in on the Mannequin Challenge. Baltimore's kickoff coverage unit did it at the end of a touchback. The entire team (minus Flacco, who was speaking with the press) did it in the postgame locker room. Even the Marching Ravens band did it before the game.
Yeah, winning is pretty fun.
