Pro. Jake Delhomme

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HOUSTON - Back in August, a lot of Valley football fans had a funny feeling Jake would be in the Super Bowl.

Freed from the Cardinals, Jake (the Snake) Plummer would lead the Denver Broncos to their accustomed spot among the NFL's elite.

Well, darned if Jake didn't make it to the Super Bowl. Only it's Jake Delhomme.

"It goes to show you that you never know in this day and age in the NFL," Delhomme said during a break from preparations for Super Bowl XXXVIII against New England in Reliant Stadium.

Delhomme, the pride of tiny Breaux Bridge, La., is a Dixie gunslinger in the mold of Green Bay's Brett Favre, a Mississippian, and former Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw, a fellow Louisianan. But Southern roots are all he has in common with those Super Bowl legends - for now, at least.

Delhomme might not be the least-heralded quarterback in Super Bowl history, but he's close. He's only the second unrestricted free agent to take his team to the Super Bowl in his first year with the club, joining Baltimore's Trent Dilfer, who did it three years ago.

Coming into this year, he had thrown more touchdown passes for the Frankfurt Galaxy (12) than he had in six seasons on the New Orleans payroll (three, against five interceptions).

All of Delhomme's career starts came in 1999 - first with Frankfurt, which he led to a World Bowl title, and then in two games with New Orleans.

"All he needed was an opportunity," Panthers head coach John Fox said.

Delhomme's big chance came at halftime of the 2003 opener, with Carolina trailing Jacksonville 14-0 at home. Delhomme came off the bench to replace starter Rodney Peete and rally the Panthers to a 24-23 victory. The decisive score came when Delhomme hit Ricky Proehl for a 12-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play.

Few knew it at the time, but the first bricks had been laid in a long, winding road to the Super Bowl. Delhomme started the next week and would go on to lead the Panthers to eight second-half comeback victories.

A lot of NFL observers were stunned. But Nelson Stokely wasn't. He coached Delhomme at the University of Louisiana, and remembers the day Delhomme was pressed into service as a freshman. The Ragin' Cajuns were down 35-0 at the half, and Stokely sent in Delhomme. The game ended 35-33, and Delhomme was a starter for good.

"You could tell right away that he's a leader, that other guys are willing to follow him," Stokely recalled during an interview this week. "Players and people around you have to have confidence in the QB when he steps in the huddle. That's what he generates. He generates excitement."

And Delhomme is expressive.

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[biged05]

Ok I can't find the original posts that have pictures of Jake signs. But it's time to get out the digital cameras for us out of towners. I won't be able to make it back home to Breaux Bridge this weekend for superbowl parties. I was able to see a whole bunch of yard signs around town and a few murals on windows around town. I'd like to see some of the others around town (and Lafayette) if some of you would be so kind to take a few pictures. I KNOW A CERTAIN SOMEONE WHO HAS A CAMERA. You know who I'm talking to. Anyway, I know our little home town is booming with excitement, and I wish I could be there to join in, but pictures will give me some since of inclusion.

Thanks BIGED

[shof]

Haven't caught a lot of Super Bowl press conferences, etc; but a lot of the written media has been great exposure for the area and the school. Would love to see him push the "UL" or "Louisiana" tag a little more. I just remember some of the introductions earlier where it was "UL-Lafayette". Aside from this he's been great!

[RaisingCajun08]

I will see what I can do for you. Might be Saturday before I can get around to it though.

Who will be at Mulate's on Sunday?

[Turbine]

Great

[NewsCopy]

By Dave Kindred

My perfect football game would involve 120 passes. Nothing is much more beautiful than a ball describing an arc through the sky on its rise and descent to a man in full flight himself. Montana to Rice, Bradshaw to Swann, Manning to Harrison. It all seems so impossible until it's done, and then it's so breathtaking you want to see it done again. Maybe we'd run the ball two or three times a day, mix in a draw just to keep the defense honest. Otherwise, we'd put air under it and keep it flying.

So I have a sense that Super Bowl 38 might not be my cup of tea. More likely, it will be my cup of tea smashed into my teeth.

What the Patriots did to Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison in the AFC championship game was remind us again that whatever else football is, it is first a contest of man-to-man physical strength. He who hits hardest, fastest and most often wins.

Fourteen games in a row now, the Patriots have won operating from the basic philosophy that football is a hurtin' game, and he who brings the heaviest hurt wins. Be nice if the Patriots were to play their philosophic opposites in a Super Bowl, but in fact they dispensed with that airy debate by pounding the Colts into disoriented submission. Now they go at a lesser version of themselves, the Panthers.

Nice team, the Panthers. A thrilling example of the NFL's razor's edge separating travail from triumph: Across their last 50 games, they went 3-23 and then 18-6. Good for Charlotte, too, where for too long the sports pages ran lurid with tales of alcoholism, racism, murder for hire, murder by passion, sexual harassment and death by street racing.

Still. It's a football game, not a feelgoodfest.

Give me the Patriots, 31-7.

Send flowers to poor Jake Delhomme, the Panthers' quarterback, an unassuming player who has, of course, much to be unassuming about. For a long while he'd been one of the hundreds of quarterbacks good enough to hang around pro football but not good enough to start, let alone star. Second-string in Europe, second-string in the NFL until this season. Suddenly, he's a starter, a star, and now a central figure in a Super Bowl.

As a measure of Delhomme's unassuming nature, it has been pointed out that the Panthers have won five times when his passing accounted for fewer than 150 yards. Even in the NFC championship, he threw only 14 passes, his fewest all year. Clearly, he is no quarterback demanding ego massage weekly. The more basic message, however, is that the Panthers win by limiting Delhomme's contributions rather than depending on them.

"Statistics," Delhomme has said repeatedly, as if reciting a mantra imposed upon his psyche by the Panthers' coach, John Fox, "are for losers."

Delhomme's acceptance of that plain distortion of truth is all the evidence we need to know he's a quarterback in over his head in this Super Bowl. Look. The Patriots led the NFL in interceptions (29) while giving up the fewest touchdown passes (11) and leaving opponents' quarterbacks with the lowest rating in the league (56.2). Those statistics are for winners.

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Dave Kindred is a contributing writer for Sporting News.
Email him at kindred@sportingnews.com.

[NewsCopy]

Issue:
Breaux Bridge native Jake Delhomme quarterbacks Panthers to Super Bowl.

We Suggest:
He is another star the Saints let slip away.

People we talk to in Breaux Bridge are still loyal fans of the Saints. They are very candid in expressing the belief, however, that letting Jake Delhomme get away was a colossally dumb move on the part of Saints management. In Pont Breaux and elsewhere, people believe that had he been given a chance in New Orleans, Delhomme might be quarterbacking the Saints in the Super Bowl instead of the Carolina Panthers.

It is not a far-fetched belief.

Delhomme spent five years as a backup quarterback for the Saints before shopping around and settling on the Panthers. The Saints can’t say they didn't know what a talented, spirited player he is. In 1999, then-Coach Mike Ditka threw Delhomme, who hadn’t suited up for a regular game that season, against the Dallas Cowboys. The Breaux Bridge, Teurlings Catholic and UL Lafayette star did something no other New Orleans quarterback had been able to do that season. He rallied the lackluster Saints to victory.

He stunned the Cowboys, revived the sagging spirits of die-hard Saints fans and left surprised network play-by-play announcers fumbling for words to describe his field leadership, deadly accurate arm and swift seizure of opportunities.

Those of us who have followed Delhomme’s career as the most prolific passer in Louisiana collegiate history were not surprised. At UL Lafayette, we watched him start 43 straight games and win 25 of those. We saw him lead the Cajuns to co-titles in the Big West Conference and win against every in-state opponent for four years and three winning seasons. We tore down the goal posts and tore up the town when he quarterbacked the Cajuns to an upset victory over the Texas Aggies.

The Saints, however, never got excited about Delhomme.

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Super Bowl Players Say ``It's Go Time'' with a New Game Face; Jake Delhomme and Ty Law Face-Off in New Milk Mustache Ad

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2004--Super Bowl rivals shared two final words before Sunday's game - "got milk?." Before they pass each other on the grid iron, Jake Delhomme, Quarterback of the Carolina Panthers, and New England Patriots' Defensive Back Ty Law will face off in a pre-game Milk Mustache ad, debuting for the first and only time in the Friday, January 30, 2004 issue of USA TODAY.

The ad reads, "I want the ball. Come and get it. It's go time for Ty Law and Jake Delhomme. It's not time for friendly competition. It's go time. And we never would have made it without the 9 essential nutrients we get in every glass of milk. So this Sunday, it's winner take all. Loser thinks about it all summer."

Delhomme and Law are on the same sideline when it comes to milk's health benefits. "Milk does have nine essential nutrients like vitamin D and calcium," said Delhomme. "It helps keep a body strong."

"Before the last game, I had a nice big glass of milk and I ended up having three interceptions for the AFC championship game," said Law. "I'm going to have a nice big glass of milk before the Super Bowl and hopefully it'll work for me."

More than just the Lombardi trophy is at stake this Sunday for Delhomme and Law. Sunday's winner will also appear in his own milk mustache ad, which will debut on February 2, 2004 in USA TODAY and in the February 2, 2004 issues of Sports Illustrated and ESPN Magazine. The ads were shot by famed sports photographer, Walter Iooss, best known for his work in Sports Illustrated.

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[NewsCopy]

NFL title game no reason to mourn on bayou

We owe a great deal of gratitude to the great state of Louisiana. The Pelican State has provided us with Britney Spears and Bourbon Street, Louis Armstrong and Mardi Gras, Harry Connick Jr. and creole.

But we all know Louisiana's No. 1 contribution to popular culture is the Super Bowl quarterback: When Carolina's Jake Delhomme takes the field Sunday he'll be the fifth out of 46 different Super Bowl starting quarterbacks who learned their craft at a Louisiana university.

Delhomme, who attended Louisiana-Lafayette, will join Terry Bradshaw (Louisiana Tech), Doug Williams (Grambling State), Stan Humphries (LSU and La.- Monroe) and David Woodley (LSU) as Louisiana-educated starting QBs in pro football's ultimate game. Only one state's colleges have produced more: California with eight.

A survey of the alma maters of all the Super Bowl starting QBs produced these fun facts:

-- Before New England's Tom Brady (University of Michigan) beat St. Louis 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI, the last Big Ten quarterback to win a Super Bowl was Miami's Bob Griese (Purdue) in Super Bowl VIII, a 24-7 win over the Vikings.

-- There is one other Big Ten quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl. Len Dawson (Purdue) led the Chiefs past the Vikings 23-7 in Super Bowl IV.

-- Jim Plunkett (Stanford) was the first West Coast college QB to win a Super Bowl when he and the Raiders trounced the Eagles 27-10 in Super Bowl XV.

-- Only twice in Super Bowl history have both starting QBs attended schools in the same conference. The last was an all-Pac-10 matchup: Denver's John Elway (Stanford) vs. Atlanta's Chris Chandler (Washington) in Super Bowl XXXIII which was won by Broncos 34-19.

The first was an all-SEC duel: Oakland's Kenny Stabler (Alabama) vs. Minnesota's Fran Tarkenton (Georgia) in Super Bowl XI. The Raiders won it 32- 14.

-- Cal is one of three schools to have had three different starting QBs in the Super Bowl (Vince Ferragamo, Craig Morton and Joe Kapp). The other two: Notre Dame (Joe Montana, Joe Theismann and Daryle Lamonica) and Alabama (Stabler, Bart Starr and Joe Namath).

Delhomme details: His 80.9 passer rating is relatively low for a starting QB in the Super Bowl. The last Super Bowl starter from an NFC team to have a lower rating was Phil Simms of the New York Giants in 1986 who had a 74.9 rating largely because he threw more interceptions (22) than TD passes that season (21). Little did it bother Simms as the Giants routed Denver in Super Bowl XXI 39-20. All Simms did was set the Super Bowl record for highest completion percentage (88 percent, 22-for-25). ... According to ESPN, Delhomme will be the third starting QB to wear No. 17 in SB history. The others: Williams and Billy Kilmer.

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Mark Camps

E-mail Mark Camps at mcamps@sfchronicle.com.

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The Story-Line Should Be Enough

They have been called The Rejects, The Castoffs, The Team with Nine Lives and The Underdogs. They are said to be a side devoid of a superstar. They are said to be a side that plays unattractive smash-mouth football. They don't have a big-time quarterback. They have an XFL castoff named He Hate Me. They won seven games by three points or less. It's January, and they shouldn't be here.

At the same time, this is how superstardom is born, and for the Carolina Panthers this is the stuff dreams are made of.

Although the Panthers dominate with a turgid front four on defense, Coach John Fox and his band of merry no-names have been on the defensive off the field for the past couple of weeks contesting the fact that they are good enough to take on an equally workmanlike Patriots side in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Even awe-inspiring post-season victories over the Greatest Show on Turf - the St. Louis Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles are not enough to wipe clear the fact that most pundits had the Panthers heading up the bottom of the NFC East at the beginning of the season.

Picture this: the Cats from Carolina will play football in February ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. Still not enough story-line for you?

Come Sunday night, all eyes will be on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. If the Patriots win, he will become the youngest quarterback to win two Super Bowls at the age of 26 and will be labeled as true genius at the position.

His sure-footed passing and minimal mistakes have been a cornerstone for the Pats. However, his opposite number, the Cajun-tongued Jake Delhomme, is no slouch himself; he has the battle-scars to prove it. Just a few short seasons ago, this virtual unknown was calling his parents from across the Atlantic while backing up an unknown Kurt Warner for the Franfurt Galaxy in NFL Europe.

Now, after contemplating retiring, this 29 year-old is the starting quarterback in the biggest game on the face of the world for a team that was an appalling 1-15 just two seasons ago.

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The Hilltop
The STUDENT voice of HJoward University

By Zachary Kenworthy