Joe Flacco can tell his newborn son Daniel that he's a winner.
Flacco found out about an hour before kickoff Sunday that his wife, Dana, gave birth to their second son.
Then he went out with his usual cool demeanor and delivered 14 second-half points to help the Ravens topple the Cleveland Browns. Flacco finished with 211 passing yards and a touchdown, but the stats probably didn't matter much to him.
Immediately after the game, Flacco took off for New Jersey.
"Anytime you have a child, it's one of your best days," Flacco said.
Flacco came to the team's breakfast Sunday morning and told Head Coach John Harbaugh that his wife was in labor at the hospital. Flacco kept Harbaugh in the loop on her progress in the next couple hours, and the head coach said he saw Flacco praying.
Flacco had planned to prank Harbaugh and tell him that he was heading up to New Jersey for the birth, but didn't end up pulling it off.
"I'm so glad he didn't do it. He would've had me hook, line and sinker," Harbaugh said with a laugh. "To play with that on your mind, I think obviously says a lot, and we appreciate that."
Flacco was in pregame warm-ups when he was called off the field by a team representative. He got on the phone and Dana told the quarterback, "We have another boy." She gave birth at 11:50 a.m., and both are doing well.
"Congratulations to Dana, first of all," Harbaugh said. "She's getting the job done on her own out there. We appreciate that, Dana. Thank you, thank you."
Harbaugh even drew comparisons to himself and younger brother Jim, the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Like the Harbaugh brothers, the Flacco bros, Stephen and Daniel, are 15 months apart.
Flacco's teammates were all impressed with their quarterback's poise. Wide receiver Tandon Doss said he seemed a bit more excited before the game, but there was no big change.
"He was actually surprisingly calm," running back Bernard Pierce said. "Me, on the other hand, I might have been freaking out a little bit."
Flacco was asked if he was thinking about his new baby boy on the field.
"Of course not on the field, but on the sideline," he said. "I can't wait to go back [to New Jersey] and see him."
