Joe Flacco appreciated Ray Lewis' enthusiam even if he didn't totally understand it. (USATSI)
Ray Lewis has been known to give a motivational speech or two. And on game days, that would include the squirrel dance.

But after 17 seasons, Lewis has called it a career. Which means that the Ravens will have to turn to others for pregame pep talks. Maybe quarterback Joe Flacco, the Super Bowl MVP who signed a six-year, $120 million contract extension this offseason, is finally up to the task. He's certainly earned his teammates' respect, even if he's not big on all the rah-rah stuff.

We know this from his "steady as she goes" disposition, but also because Flacco admitted as much.

A few years ago, former offensive coordinator Cam Cameron asked Flacco if he'd be willing to give a fiery speech, Ray Lewis-style, to the offense the night before a game.

"That's not me," Flacco told ESPN's Kevin Van Valkenburg. "I love Ray, and I love how he always spoke from the heart, but if you listened to those speeches, a lot of them didn't even make sense. He meant everything he was saying, but I didn't know what he was talking about 90 percent of the time."

(Our first thought: Flacco thinks Lewis is Oswald Bates!)

As for the perception that Flacco is dull? He embraces it.

"You think I'm boring? I think that's cool," Flacco said. "I don't know if I'm an everyday person, but I don't think I'm an a--hole. If you think I'm boring, I don't see why it's a negative thing. All I've ever wanted was to be respected within the building."

We've yet to read about a player getting in trouble for eating pizza with his family and minding his own business. There are worse fates than boring people to tears. Especially when you're primarily responsible for bringing the Lombardi Trophy back to Baltimore.