Joe Flacco Says Not Playing Football and Being Home Too Much Affected Relationship With Wife and Kids

Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco's return to football at the age of 38 hasn't just given him the chance to play in his first playoff game since the 2014 season, it's given him an excuse to spend less time at home with his wife and kids.

Flacco spent the entire offseason and nearly the first three months of this season unsigned after leaving the New York Jets. So he experienced being a full-time dad and husband for the first time.

Flacco was a rookie in this role, and not the kind with a veteran's poise. And he needed coaching from his wife, Dana Grady.

"I get bored really easily, so with my wife I was like 'what can I do'" Flacco told NBC Sports on Friday. "It's not necessarily stuff around the house, it's like, how can 'I get out of the house like, can you send me on a Target run?'"

Flacco said that most of the time when he tried to help his wife, he was just "getting in the way."

"She is just so set in her routine, that the first couple weeks when I come home, it was just a disaster, because I'm just getting in the way," Flacco said.

This was especially true when it came to parenting his four children; Stephen, Francis, Daniel and Thomas.

"When the kids get home, all hell breaks loose!" Flacco said. "I'm not used to being around the kids 24-7 ... so my patience is not nearly where it's supposed to be."

During his playing career, Flacco had a contrasting parenting style to his wife, which ultimately resulted in him being the "good cop" parent with his kids. However, after spending too much time at home, Flacco became the one who was more uptight with the children and his wife had to step in as the good cop.

"I wasn't home all day dealing with it, constantly, over and over and over again," Flacco said of dealing with his kids when he was an active player.

"Then all of a sudden, I come home, and within five days, I'm that guy that's overreacting now, and my wife is telling me, 'listen, they're just kids, it's not that big of a deal."

It was at this time that Flacco realized he didn't have as much in common with his own father, Stephen Flacco, who Joe says always made an effort to play catch with his son every day. Flacco says he tried to be enthusiastic about playing with his kids when they came home, just as much his own dad, but did not have nearly enough energy or enthusiasm.

Flacco at one point even tried out for CW's flagship NFL program "Inside the NFL" while he was out of work, ESPN's Ryan Clark said on Get Up in December.

However, Flacco was able to get back into the NFL and away from his family when the Browns signed him to their practice squad on Nov. 20.

Flacco was then elevated to the team's starting quarterback in Week 13 against the Los Angeles Rams. He became the fourth quarterback to start for Cleveland this season at that point, and is the fifth in total after the team rested him in Week 18 for Jeff Drisekl. However, the team still paid Flacco his $75,000 bonus that he would have gotten if the team won in his incentive-laden contract with the Browns.

As the starter, Flacco led Cleveland to a 4-1 record and a spot in the playoffs while breaking a handful of records along the way. Flacco threw 939 yards across his first three starts in Cleveland, which set a franchise record for passing yards in a player's first three starts.

He also became the third-oldest player to pass for over 300 passing yards in three straight games just behind Tom Brady, who did it twice 2017 at age 40 and in 2020 at 43, and Warren Moon who did it at 39 in 1995. Flacco even surpassed Peyton Manning, who last accomplished the feat in 38 years and 247 days, 105 days younger than Flacco, in 2014.