Pro. Jake Delhomme

[1stTake]

Yeah color

[RCAJUN90]

Would you mind e-mailing to me? igator99@yahoo.com
I would greatly appreciate it.

[Pirogue]

how's this?

[NewsCopy]

HOUSTON - Although his last name is French for "the man," quarterback Jake Delhomme has rarely been "The Man" - until recently.

A record-setting college career wasn't enough to get him invited to the NFL scouting combines, much less drafted. He was waived three times before he ever suited up. By then, he'd already played two seasons in NFL Europe, spending one as a backup.

Now he's leading the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl, and his charming story, as well as his aw-shucks personality are very much in demand.

"It doesn't matter who you are, if you get your opportunity and make the most of it, you can get to the show," he said Tuesday during media day interviews.

Proving that success hasn't changed him, Delhomme (pronounced duh-LOME) spoke fondly about returning home to Breaux Bridge, La., and getting back to working with the three racehorses he owns - Hello Heaven, Ruthie Red and She Hate Me, a takeoff on teammate Rod Smart's XFL moniker.

"I'll still clean stalls, without a doubt. It's in my blood," he said. "I'm the same old Jake. The only thing that's different is that I'm playing on a decent football team."

Delhomme seemed to enjoy every minute of his hour before the swarms of cameras, microphones and notepads.

He did his best to give a fresh answer no matter how many times he was asked about his rise from obscurity, why he joined the Panthers, or about his hometown, which bills itself as the "Crawfish Capital of the World."

"Breaux. Breaux, Breaux, Breaux," he said with a smile, correcting someone who called it "Bo" Bridge.

Delhomme happily obliged the crew from Germany who asked him to look into a camera and say hi to all his fans in Frankfurt. When Warren Sapp dropped by for the NFL Network, Delhomme jokingly told him to get away, saying he'd seen enough of him during the season.

The rest of the story

JAIME ARON
Associated Press

[NewsCopy]

Bayou Native Went Undrafted Out of La.-Lafayette, Endured Stint With NFL Europe and Still Mucks Stalls -- for Fun

HOUSTON, Jan. 27 -- Jake Delhomme and his large, extended family always watched the Super Bowl together back home in Breaux Bridge, La., the self-proclaimed "Crawfish Capital of the World." He can remember as a youngster going out in the backyard for an impromptu pickup game with friends and relatives, usually pretending he was Joe Montana "throwing a couple of touchdown passes and practicing my dance." On Sunday, he will realize every little boy's dream when he starts at quarterback for the Carolina Panthers against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII. If he happens to throw a touchdown pass or two, he promised the other day there will be no celebration dance. Flash and glitz has never been his style.

On Monday, Delhomme, 29 and in his fifth season in the league, was asked if it bothered him that a reporter had called him "Jack" during a news conference last week or that he's not gotten all that much recognition for his team's success this year.

"No, because that's not what I'm all about," he said. "I'm all about what's best for this team. I could care less about statistics or individual accolades. As long as I'm doing my job and helping this team win, that's fine with me. I don't have that much of an ego to let that bother me."

For most of his professional career, Delhomme, 6 feet 2 and 215 pounds, has had his ego bruised more times than he cares to remember. Coming out of Louisiana-Lafayette, where he started as a freshman and ended as the school's all-time passing leader, he wasn't even invited to the annual NFL scouting combine. He went undrafted in April 1997 before signing as a free agent with the New Orleans Saints. They cut him in August that first summer, then re-signed him for their practice squad that November.

"People thought he was small and didn't have enough arm strength," Patriots vice president of personnel Scott Pioli said. "He played at a small school. Most scouts felt he was just another guy."

"I couldn't tell you why" so many teams downgraded him after college, Delhomme said today. "A couple of quarterbacks got drafted that I thought I was better than. But things happen for a reason. I would have liked to be invited to one of the all-star games or the combine, but scouting is definitely an inexact science. I'm kind of glad about the way it worked out. It made me work a little harder and made being here this week even more special."

There were other potholes on his bumpy road to the Super Bowl. In 1998 he played in NFL Europe for the Amsterdam Admirals, but couldn't beat out the starter, another unknown named Kurt Warner. Later that year, he made the Saints roster, was cut after five games, then re-signed to the practice squad.

Delhomme had some initial hesitation the following season when the Saints wanted him to go back to Europe, but now he says that was probably one of the best moves of his career. Delhomme led the Frankfort Galaxy to the league championship, got a huge dose of experience and confidence, and spent the next three seasons as a reserve quarterback for the Saints, including 2002 when he was the backup to Aaron Brooks.

Delhomme thought seriously about staying with New Orleans for the 2003 season but decided to test the free agent waters because "everyone wants to start." He spoke to two teams, the Dallas Cowboys and the Panthers, and thought he had the best chance to compete for a starting position under second-year Carolina coach John Fox, signing a two-year, $4 million deal.

The rest of the story

By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer

[RCAJUN90]

Thanks again Pirouge!

[NewsCopy]

Weird questions and all, Delhomme relishes media day at Super Bowl

HOUSTON — Jake Delhomme waited a long time for this.

For years, now, he’s watched from afar as players paraded in front of the national media before perhaps the biggest annual event in sports, all the while longing for his chance to do what the likes of Joe Montana, John Elway and his friend Kurt Warner had already accomplished.

Tuesday was Super Bowl XXXVIII’s Media Day.

And with his camcorder in left hand, capturing every second of the atmosphere surrounding Sunday’s game, pitting his Carolina Panthers against the New England Patriots, and his right free to shake hands with a gauntlet of well wishers, Delhomme finally made his way to the podium.

Then came what he had always dreamed of, 2,500 inquiring media minds, asking about Delhomme and the Panthers’ Cinderella season that has come from nowhere and somehow reached Reliant Stadium.

“This is fun, especially for somebody like me,” said Delhomme, a former Saints quarterback and Breaux Bridge native. “I am having a good time with this. This is part of the Super Bowl. Every year I watch on Tuesday and watch Media Day and just kind of wonder, hey I wonder what it’s like.

“It’s certainly great seeing all the guys walk out with the video cameras. We want to capture this also. This is something for us. We want to enjoy it. But the best way to enjoy it is to come out with a win.”

At these events, the media, including everyone from ESPN to Nickelodeon, can be both probing and funny, quizzing Delhomme on whether he still cleans the stables at his families horse farm in Breaux Bridge, and whether Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers prefers jalapenos or green peppers, and whether Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s family is Democrat or Republican.

Heck, Brady even was asked whom he was dating, to which he replied, “This week, the training room.”


Perhaps the weirdest question of the day came from Pick Boy of Nickelodeon, who asked Panthers burly defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, “Who would you rather tackle, Celine Dion or Clay Aiken?” Jenkins replied: “Celine Dion. I would rather tackle a female.”

Patriots rookie Dan Koppen read cue cards for Spike TV. Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi was challenged to a spelling bee by the 13-year-old Nickelodeon reporter with spiky yellow hair.

“Spell Delhomme,” Justin Phillips boldly challenged Bruschi.

“D-E-L-H-O-M-E,” Bruschi responded. He missed an ‘M,’ and as the last letter spilled from his lips, the youngster pounced: “Wrong!”

Later on, Delhomme admitted he couldn’t spell Bruschi.

“It’s kind of overwhelming, actually,” Panthers cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. said. “I like it. It’s cool. It gives the fans and you guys a little opportunity to get some insight. It’s the Super Bowl. You have to cover every second of it. And I believe that’s a good thing. I’m loving it.’’

“It’s crazy,” added Panthers fullback Brad Hoover, one of about every other player wielding a video recorder to savor the moment. “You are in awe.”

It was hard not to be. The Panthers are playing in their first Super Bowl in franchise history and only eight players on their 53-man roster have ever suited up for a game such as this, causing some to be taken aback with the national spotlight.

Tampa Bay’s Warren Sapp and Booger McFarland, along with former NFL players Warren Moon and Jamal Anderson are serving as reporters this week.

Delhomme, for one, wanted no part of answering questions from Sapp.

“I don’t want to see you this week,” Delhomme said to the man he faced twice during the season. “No, I’ve seen enough of you during the season.”

The rest of the story

Nakia Hogan

[Turbine]

With the dozens upon dozens of great articles about Jake Delhomme (and available), how on earth can the Advertiser use this jerks take on the Super Bowl?

Another thing WHY ISN'T the Advertiser doing its own stories on Jake?

[NewsCopy]

No, New Orleans made the right call going with Brooks

NEW ORLEANS - Congratulations to Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme. He's enjoyed a storybook year in helping the Panthers reach Super Bowl XXXVIII to face the New England Patriots on Sunday in Houston.

The pride of Breaux Bridge is worth cheering for. He's the underdog who made it. He's the guy who gives all the little people hope.

But let's not kid ourselves here. While Delhomme is a serviceable quarterback, he is by no means the key component behind the Panthers' Super Bowl run or by no stretch of some Cajun's imagination a better quarterback than the Saints' Aaron Brooks, the man whose job some delusional observers would have loved to see Delhomme have.

Fact is, though, had Delhomme, whom the Saints wanted to keep, stuck around and not decided to go to Carolina for a chance to become a starter, he'd have been toting Brooks' clipboard.

"I have no animosity toward New Orleans," Delhomme said during the regular season. "I didn't play for them. It's not like I am Stephen Davis playing the Redskins. ... I was just a guy on the bottom tier of the roster. I am a backup quarterback. I was a third string quarterback for a while. It's not like they didn't think I was any good and let me go. They have a very good starting quarterback in Aaron Brooks and he was their guy. I would have been a backup there."

If Delhomme knows it, what's with all the persistence from gung-ho fans that he would have somehow led the Saints into the playoffs, that somehow the Saints' defense wouldn't have been so porous, the wide receivers so banged up, the record not so mediocre?

If you are one of those folks who believe Delhomme would have been the answer to the Saints' problems, ask yourself why? Does Delhomme have a stronger arm than Brooks? No. Can Delhomme escape onrushing defensive linemen better than Brooks? No. Is Delhomme more adept at making plays than Brooks? No.

If you are upset that Delhomme is playing for the Panthers, not the Saints, in the championship, you are probably upset the way a person is when they see their former boyfriend or girlfriend from next door move on and find a new mate, one that is a better fit for their needs. It's not that Delhomme left, it's that the Panthers are a better team than the Saints and all you Brooks naysayers need something to find fault in the Saints' quarterback.

But this isn't it.

Brooks is coming off a stellar season, one in which he passed for 3,546 yards 24 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. His 88.8 passer rating was a career-high, ranking seventh best in the league this season.

Meanwhile during the regular season, Delhomme threw for 3,219 yards, 19 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. His passer rating of 80.6 was 13th in the league.

Consider this: The Saints and their West Coast offense are more dependent on the skills of their signal caller, asking him to make plays with his arm, passing the ball downfield and firing throws with pinpoint precision. These are skills Delhomme, even in his championship run with the Panthers, has yet to showcase, and in all likelihood, doesn't possess.

The rest of the story

Nakia Hogan / The Times

news@shreveporttimes.com

[NewsCopy]

Houston- Here comes another rags-to-riches quarterback too good to be true.

Jake Delhomme grew up on his daddy's horse farm in a small Louisiana town where his cousin presides as mayor. When it came time for Delhomme and his wife to expand their home, he moved from a house a quarter-mile from his parents to one on their 14 acres in which his grandparents raised his father.

After a prolific four years at Louisiana-Lafayette, Delhomme wasn't drafted. Wasn't even invited to the NFL scouting combine. He was cut three times by his home-state New Orleans Saints, sent to NFL Europe twice and didn't even start for the team in Amsterdam.

Now, he's a starting quarterback in the Super Bowl, the fresh-faced symbol of a Carolina Panthers team that transformed itself from 1-15 dreg to tough, plucky, don't-count-them-out underdog.

"It feels like the season just started the other day and here we are," Delhomme said Tuesday.

How do these guys keep falling through the cracks?

Delhomme said the quarterback position is so poorly developed in the NFL because only one can play at a time (unlike two or three receivers, for example) and coaches worry so much about preparing their starter for the season, no time is granted the untried newcomer unless he's a high draft choice.

Delhomme jumped at the chance to play in NFL Europe in 1998 to be able to "get hit, get put in two-minute situations."

But for one season, he sat behind Kurt Warner, another unknown.

"That was the lowest point - by far," Delhomme said. "Just being in NFL Europe and not playing. I didn't know it was Kurt Warner at the time. I thought this guy was pretty good, though."

Warner became the inspiration to all underdogs by winning the Super Bowl the following season with the St. Louis Rams.

Delhomme still had to plow through another season in Europe - he won the championship with Frankfurt - and pick himself off the NFL scrap heap after blowing a New Orleans roster spot with a regrettable performance in a make-or-break exhibition game.

"I put so much pressure on myself going into that game," Delhomme said. "I remember barely sleeping the night before and I played awful.

"It wasn't me. And I swore if ever I get in that situation again, never, ever do that. Just play the game and have fun. Prepare and let it happen. Don't get caught up and get nervous."

That partially explains Delhomme's resurgence after joining the Panthers as a free agent this year.

He came off the bench in Carolina's season opener and rallied his team from a 21-0 deficit. It was the first of eight games he won this season in the fourth quarter or overtime.

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Tony Grossi
Plain Dealer Reporter