Life is good for Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. He led his team to a Super Bowl win, was named MVP, received a five-year contract for $120 million and now he will portray former Baltimore Colts quarterback, Johnny Unitas in an upcoming movie about his football career.
Unitas is considered one of the greatest NFL players of all time. He led the Colts to victory in the 1958 championship game dubbed the “Greatest Game Ever Played”.
He died in 2002, now his son is producing ‘Unitas We Stand’, a movie about his dad’s life based on a book by Tom Callahan. Joe still needs to secure funding to produce the movie.
Flacco will play Unitas in scenes about the “greatest game” when the Colts beat the Giants 23-17 in sudden death overtime.
While honored and excited to portray Unitas, Flacco admits he is ‘a little nervous’ about it.
“I’m just excited that I get to go out and put on some kind of Johnny Unitas uniform and go out there and run around a little bit,” Flacco said. “I’m a little nervous about the fact that I’m probably not going to replicate him perfectly. I don’t know if they’re going to want me to go out there and just look like me, or if they’re going to want me to actually look like him a little bit. I’m sure that will be a little tough to do, but I’m going to try to do it.”
Joe casted Flacco because of the Baltimore connection and the way Flacco plays reminds Joe of his dad.
Unitas’ grandson, J.C. has issues with the Flacco selection calling it an “embarrassing choice” for the role.
Flacco is used to criticism and is likely un-phased by it.
Filming is set to start this summer with the release scheduled around next year’s Super Bowl assuming funds are available to complete the project.
Zennie Abraham