INDIANAPOLIS - Six months ago, Joe Flacco's phone wasn't ringing. He wasn't getting any offers to so much as become a backup, like he's doing now with the Colts.

For the first time, an MVP quarterback began to wonder if the end of football was here.

He was at home, surrounded by his five children, the oldest of whom is 11 years old. He was keeping his arm fresh, feeling in each toss the zip and the inertia that let him start more than 170 games and launch one of the most memorable postseason runs in the sport.

But in a league obsessed with finding the next young dual-threat quarterback, a 38-year-old wondered if any teams cared to notice anymore.

"I figured once the season started at some point I would get a call," Flacco said. "... I was probably starting to have a little bit of doubt that it was going to actually happen. So yeah, it creeps in a little bit just because I was actually sitting at home last year.”

Only when the Browns literally ran out of quarterbacks and gave him a call did the fortunes start to change. Flacco boarded a commercial flight to Cleveland and then launched a run with the Browns that reached heights nobody but him could see coming.

Flacco started five regular season games for the Browns, an offense suddenly reliant upon the passing game with Nick Chubb lost for the season. Flacco went 4-1 with electrifying passing numbers, averaging 323 yards per game and 7.9 yards per attempt. Both marks would have ranked in the top five in the NFL across a full season.

Including a playoff loss to the Texans, Flacco threw for 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in just six games, showing all levels of the gun-slinger approach that has been his ride-or-die since the Ravens made him a first-round pick way back in 2007.

Some habits never die.

"The guy's a competitor. He's a winner. He's won a ton of football games in this league," Colts coach Shane Steichen said. "He's got a big arm. He's won a Super Bowl. We're super excited to have him."

Flacco's run with the Browns was successful enough and celebrated enough by fans that he and many others expected a reunion this season, even as a backup to a healthy Deshaun Watson. But the Browns passed on the idea, instead signing Jameis Winston and perhaps avoiding a potential quarterback controversy.

That's when Flacco turned his attention to other teams, and the Colts became a fit. They had a need for a backup after Gardner Minshew left for a starting opportunity with the Raiders, and an interest in one who could push the ball down the field. They have a talented young quarterback in Anthony Richardson who will start but who could use mentoring, as well as a reliable backup after missing the final 12 games with a sprained AC joint.

The Colts also had a coach in Steichen who happened to know Flacco from their days with the Eagles, back when Flacco was the backup to Jalen Hurts during an offensive installation through the offseason. That connection, as well as Steichen's work to help Minshew land a contract worth $15 million guaranteed from the Raiders, made this landing spot attractive.

"He does some pretty cool stuff offensively and gives a quarterback a really good chance to play his best football," Flacco said of Steichen.

Flacco knows the role here will be different than it was in Cleveland last season. He's going to be a backup to a quarterback 18 years younger than he is. Everyone in the building will be hoping he won't have to see the field so that Richardson can have the year he needs to have.

But Flacco is confident he can be a supportive and helpful teammate who can also compete with himself to stay ready for his moment if and when it does arrive. He believed in that last fall watching games from his couch, and he'll hold tight to it in on his sixth different team, too.

“When you have something that you love to do and you enjoy putting in the work and all that, I don’t know too many people that would give that up to try and go do something else," Flacco said. "I have no idea what else that would be.

"One day, I’ll figure that out but I’m not really ready to go figure out what else that may be."

Contact Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: How Joe Flacco's unwavering confidence made him a match with the Colts