Joe Flacco In Hot Water After Using R-Word To Describe Cold Weather Super Bowls

Joe Flacco is drawing criticism for his choice of words in describing cold weather Super Bowls, calling the idea “retarded.”

Flacco isn’t known for being too forthcoming with reporters, but during his Monday media session prior to the Super Bowl in New Orleans the Ravens quarterback expressed disdain at the idea of the big game being played outdoors in cold weather, Yahoo! Sports noted.

Joe Flacco seemed to catch himself just after saying the R-word, and the NFL later scrubbed it from his official transcript. But a reporter from the Denver Post transcribed the quote, which was later circulated through a handful of reports about the media session.

Here are Flacco’s full remarks:

“Yeah, I think it’s retarded. I probably shouldn’t say that. I think it’s stupid. If you want a Super Bowl, put a retractable dome on your stadium. Then you can get one. Other than that I don’t really like the idea. I don’t think people would react very well to it, or be glad to play anybody in that kind of weather.”

Several media outlets cut Joe Flacco some slack for his R-word slip. Yahoo! Sports blogger Kevin Kaduk noted that he can’t condone what Flacco said, but gives the quarterback credit for immediately recognizing the slip and vowing to improve. Kaduk noted that he is on board with R-Word.org’s campaign to “spread the word to end the word.”