Joe Flacco, NFL quarterback, Super Bowl MVP, 2008 University of Delaware graduate and part owner of a Middletown golf course, will deliver the 2024 Commencement address on Saturday, May 25.
Flacco, who led the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl victory, added another noteworthy chapter to his career during a brief stint at the Cleveland Browns, where he led the team to a rare playoff berth and won the Comeback Player of the Year award. He has since signed with the Indianapolis Colts.
“We are so thrilled to welcome Joe back home here at UD where he created a legacy for other outstanding Blue Hen student-athletes to emulate,” UD President Dennis Assanis said. “Joe embodies the UD values of leadership, teamwork, perseverance, excellence, and resilience. We are incredibly proud to call him our own, and I know that his remarks will inspire the graduates of the Class of 2024.”
The commencement ceremony, scheduled at 9:30 a.m., May 25, in Delaware Stadium on the University’s Newark campus, is a ticketed event, open only to graduating students and up to four guests. An estimated 4,000 graduates are expected to attend, with about 16,000 family and friends. The ceremony also will be live-streamed.
A UD alumnus with a degree in accounting and a native of southern New Jersey, Flacco was picked by the Ravens in the first round, 18th overall. He led the team to six playoffs, three AFC championships, and the Super Bowl XLVII title in 2012, when he was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Flacco went on to be on the rosters of the Denver Broncos, New York Jets, and Philadelphia Eagles.
Signed to the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad in November 2023, Flacco quickly found himself as the starter, with the injury to high-paid QB DeShaun Watson. His 1,616 passing yards and 13 touchdowns are both the most in NFL history by a quarterback who made his debut in the final six games of a season.
At Delaware, Flacco set 20 school records, including yards passing in a single season.
Relations between the university and Flacco were said to have been strained after the firing of UD Coach KC Keeler.
However, in 2018, Keeler and his wife, Dana, made a gift of an undisclosed amount to UD Athletics to support the University’s Whitney Athletics Center, a one-stop facility for all 600-plus student-athletes.
“Some of my biggest memories at UD were playing in the stadium and having 22,000 people excited about winning football games,” he remembered in a 2021 UD Magazine profile. “I remember how cool it was to play there and how passionate the people were, and I want all the players coming through to have the same experience I had.”
Flacco has another tie to Delaware: He is part-owner of the Back Creek Golf Club in Middletown. He was joined in the deal by former Eagles quarterback and golf course owner Ron Jaworski, and a hotel company.
