Super Bowl hype shifts into high gear this week with the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers now in New Orleans preparing for Sunday’s title showdown.
Some of that hype has spilled into Newark where Ravens quarterback and former University of Delaware star Joe Flacco is the focus of attention.
Flacco led the Blue Hens to an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) championship game appearance in 2007 before becoming the Ravens’ first round draft pick the following spring.
Although it’s been 6 years since Flacco wore the Blue and Gold, the UD community hasn’t forgotten. Newark’s National Five and Ten owner Brian Handloff says he is seeing big sales of UD-themed Flacco apparel.
“When he first was drafted, his merchandise was pretty popular. Kinda has died off over the last couple of years but with this new found national attention, a lot of the alumni are coming out. They want to show their support,” said Handloff.
And Handloff says there is plenty to choose from in this week leading up to Super Bowl Sunday.
“Well we have T-shirts and sweatshirts, and then a Flacco Bobblehead [that feature Flacco's Blue Hen roots]. We also have number 5 jerseys. These are actually [the team's current] Under Armour jerseys, when Joe was here we were still a Nike school,” said Handloff.
Flacco is joined on the Ravens’ Super Bowl roster by another former Blue Hen, offensive lineman Gino Gradkowski.
They’re the fourth and fifth former UD players to reach the Super Bowl, and hoping to become the first to walk away with a win. The others, Ivory Sully with the Los Angeles Rams in 1980, Rich Gannon with the Oakland Raiders in 2003 and Ben Patrick with the Arizona Cardinals in 2009, all played on the losing team.