Brother of Super Bowl winner vying for Riders roster spot

REGINA -

Tom Flacco, the youngest of six in a family of athletes, is trying to secure his spot on the Riders roster.

One of his brothers, Joe Flacco, went on to win a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens and holds multiple NFL records, but to Tom, he’s just his oldest brother.

“It’s just all I know and I don’t have any expectations, there’s no shadows. That’s just not really how we think,” said Flacco.

The 26-year-old said his brother doesn’t give him advice on the Xs and Os of the sport, but Joe did advise him on pursuing a football career.

“That’s kind of his message, just trust it,” Flacco said. “Go out there and do what you can, control what you can and it’ll work out, and now I’m here and I have a great opportunity, so he was right.”

Flacco learned the Riders were interested in him after his junior year of college when the team put him on the negotiation list.

Flacco had the opportunity to play baseball professionally out of high school when he was drafted by the MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies, but after grey and redshirting through school playing both sports, he ultimately decided football was for him.

“I wanted to play professional football and they gave me the opportunity,” said Flacco.

He said he’s grateful for the opportunity to play the sport he loves.

Flacco has been showing off his game as he adapts to Canadian rules and eyes a spot on the roster as a quarterback.

Flacco is one of the four quarterbacks looking to be placed in the roster behind Cody Fajardo, and shares similarities with his quarterback brother.

“We are more similar than people think, but we’re obviously different in the sense that I’m a little bit quicker, I’m smaller and I have to do different things than Joe can do,” he said.

Flacco is working towards becoming an official part of the Riders team.

“That’s my goal right now, to be a CFL football player.”