Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco promised not to use the word "retarded." Along with Baltimore Ravens teammates Ed Dickson and Gino Gradkowski, Flacco signed a pledge that he would not use the word "retarded" in an effort to remove the derogatory term from common usage.

Flacco received a lot of criticism this January, just before the Super Bowl, when he said it would be "retarded" to play in the cold New Jersey winter. The twenty eight-year-old football player apologized soon after, but it seems as though he wishes to do more.

"The R-word" pledge is a collaboration with the Maryland Special Olympics group to stop using the word in conversation and common speech.

Flacco joins more than 400,000 people signing the pledge to cut the word out of their vocabulary. The pledge is as follows:

"I pledge and support the elimination of the derogatory use of the r-word from everyday speech and promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities."

The Maryland Special Olympics posted a picture on their Twitter page of the Ravens players holding their signed pledges.