One of my favorite Joe Flacco moments of his young career came earlier this year, and it had nothing to do with his play on the field. Flacco just so happened to show up as a surprise guest on Terrell Suggs' WBAL radio show, an appearence that was the result of repeated badgering from Suggs. Suggs, as most of us know, is one of the funniest, most playful players in the Ravens locker room. He understands the media game, and seems to enjoy it. He gives candid answers and makes people laugh, so in many ways, he's perfect for radio. On this particular night, however, it was Flacco who made me laugh with his deadpan answer to one of Suggs' questions. I'm not going to put it quotes because I don't remember the exact exchange, but it went something close to this:

How come there isn't a Joe Flacco reality show? Suggs asked. We need to sign a deal for you so people can see the real you!

That sounds like the most boring show ever, Flacco responded.

In a sentence, that's the Ravens second-year quarterback. Laid-back and chill, funny but not outwardly so. It seems to be one of his greatest strengths as an athlete. Even on those rare times when his heart might be racing, it looks like he could be reading a book. He is the ying to Ray Lewis' yang. You'll see Flacco on American Idol before you'll see him jump up and down and thump his chest, or scream encouragement in a teammate's face.

I think we're still not sure what to make of this. It's human nature to try and read body language, and sports writers (perhaps foolishly) do it as much as anyone. But fans do it too. We've been trained over the years to have certain expectations for athleltes, especially quarterbacks, who are supposed to lead. We want them to be angry when things aren't going well. We want them to bark at their teammates when someone screws up and lead their team to victory through sheer force of will. We feel confident calling Ray Lewis and Peyton Manning and Tom Brady leaders because we can physically see them barking out orders and gesturing like generals every Sunday.

That's simply not who Flacco is, and it clearly perplexes some people. It seems like every week after a loss, some media member asks him if he feels compelled to "take a more vocal role" in what's going on with the offense. His answer never varies: Not really, because that's not really my personality.

So the natural question becomes: Does that matter?

Does Flacco have to become that person just to match our expectations? Because I admit, those thoughts crossed my mind watching him during the Ravens loss to the Bengals. Why does his body language seem so passive at times? Would it make a difference if he got outwardly angry? Or was I just buying into a myth about leadership? After all, these are professional athletes. Why do we assume they need someone out there to play General Patton?

When I asked Flacco about it, he gave what I thought was an interesting answer: