INDIANAPOLIS -- Back during Andrew Luck's second season with the Colts in 2013, Indianapolis signed veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
His days as a starter were clearly over, with the Tennessee Titans moving on from the former Seattle Seahawks franchise quarterback and Super Bowl XL starter.
What seemed like a run-of-the-mill transaction at the time actually paid big dividends for the Colts, who benefited from Hasselbeck keeping their young starter level-headed and, when needed, stepping in and filling his sizable shoes. Hasselbeck went on to play three seasons with Indianapolis, going 5-3 as a starter, but just as important, serving as an extra pair of eyes and ears for Luck and the offensive coaches.
Now, the Colts' current young quarterback -- Anthony Richardson -- appears to have landed a Hasselbeck of his own.
The Colts' signing of veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to a one-year contract on Wednesday is a potential great pairing of a confident veteran and former Super Bowl winner and a raw but tantalizing second-year quarterback who can grow under his teammate's tutelage.
Richardson, who started just 13 games at the University of Florida and spent 13 games on the sidelines while injured last season, is still likely to endure some rookie ups and downs in his second season. Last year's fourth overall pick is just now beginning to throw again after sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury that cut short his promising early-season performance.
When the 21-year-old does encounter those inevitable setbacks that come with being a young quarterback -- the untimely interceptions, missed reads and more -- it will be comforting to know Richardson will be greeted on the sideline by Flacco, a 39-year-old who has been there, done that.
It's notable that Richardson has already shown a capacity to be teachable.
"He got a chance to sit back, watch and learn," coach Shane Steichen said of Richardson's rookie season. "I had some good meetings with him throughout the season, just individually, me and him, sitting down talking football.
"He was soaking it in, and he was wired in all year."
Beyond that, Flacco's signing is important because of the most obvious element of a backup quarterback's job. Flacco demonstrated last season that he still has the ability to make plays, authoring a playoff run with the Cleveland Browns, who had historically bad luck with quarterback injuries, and earning Comeback Player of the Year honors.
Flacco came off the proverbial couch to go 4-1 as a starter down the stretch to help Cleveland secure a wild-card spot. He earned some renewed credibility with the run and made himself a viable free agent option this offseason.
Last season, the Colts showed the backup quarterback was a priority by signing Gardner Minshew, a player who had been a starter in previous stops and knew Steichen's offensive scheme. That Minshew was called upon to start 13 games only reinforced that philosophy.
After last season, general manager Chris Ballard summed up Minshew's contributions succinctly.
"Thank God we had him," he said.
With so much of the franchise's attention devoted to the success of Richardson, the reality is the backup quarterback will ideally be something of an afterthought on the field. The Colts needed someone who could succeed in spite of that.
"The backup role doesn't get a lot of reps during the week," Steichen said. "They really don't get any. They get the scout-team reps. So, you've got to be ready to go in if you have to go in and perform on pretty much no reps but know the game plan."
Flacco seems like an ideal player for such a role. He has seen every coverage and blitz imaginable. He also has thrived as a starter and when coming off the bench.
Like Hasselbeck was to Luck, Flacco could be the precisely what a young and promising quarterback like Richardson needs.
