Joe Flacco takes the R-word pledge

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco joins more than 400,000 people in signing on to to the "R" word pledge, promising to cut the word "retarded" out of his vocabulary.

Just a few months after taking heat for describing a cold-weather Super Bowl venue as "retarded" and "stupid,", Flacco seems to have learned his lesson.

Along with teammates Ed Dickson and Gino Gradkowski, Flacco joined with the Maryland chapter of the Special Olympics in taking the pledge:

"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."

Mental retardation is a term once commonly used to describe a variety of intellectual impairments, but has become more commonly used as an insult.

"When 'retard' and 'retarded' are used as synonyms for 'dumb' or 'stupid' by people without disabilities, it only reinforces painful stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities being less valued members of humanity," the R-word pledge site explains.

@teamflacco, @ginograd56, @eddickson84 of the @ravens sign the @r_word_campaign pledge to eliminate use of r-word twitter.com/SpOlympicsMD/s…

— Special Olympics MD (@SpOlympicsMD) May 19, 2013