Pro. Jake Delhomme

[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.

[NewsCopy]

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

[NewsCopy]

HOUSTON -- Now that the outside world has realized a person named Jake Delhomme is starting at quarterback for a team playing in Sunday's Super Bowl, everyone wants to know The Secret.

What is it about this guy? How come he's playing so well all of a sudden? Will he be troubled by all the attention this week?

Carolina offensive coordinator Dan Henning might have put it best Thursday at the Panthers' final interview session.

"He does have something not everyone has," Henning said, "and it is the kind of thing that you sometimes don't find in a first-round draft choice or a lot of other big-name players.

"The No. 1 thing Jake Delhomme has is something you see in a great golfer, or in football, in a great cornerback," he said. "A great golfer can miss a shot, leave a putt short or maybe hit too hard and mess up a hole; a great cornerback will get beat every now and then, it happens to all of them. The difference is that the great ones, whether a golfer or a cornerback, will put it out of their minds, they have the ability to compartmentalize each shot on the golf course or each play on the football field, and when a bad one happens, they don't let it bother them.

"The great ones have an ability to move on to the next one," Henning said, "and no, I am not saying Jake Delhomme is a great quarterback. I'm saying he understands enough about the game to be able to move on after a bad play."

Henning went one step further.

"We think quarterbacks can be found more easily than you can find, say, a Julius Peppers (defensive end)," Henning said. "Quarterbacks are out there, and by that I mean the kind we're looking for. We are not an organization that wants to draft a quarterback in the first round and say, 'It's all on you.' We think quarterbacks at this level have a certain physical ability that is almost a given. If you can find a guy who is intelligent, can engage that brain and assimilate the kind of teaching we require, you have a guy who can help you win."

Those sentiments ring true to any number of quarterbacks in the league, including the one in New England who backs up starter Tom Brady.

"I completely relate to what's happened with Jake," said Patriots' backup Damon Huard, a 30 year-old, seventh-year player from the University of Washington. "We played against each other in (NFL) Europe in '98. I was at Frankfurt and the next year he was at Frankfurt when they won.

"Jake has been a source of encouragement for a lot of us because a lot of us are sort in a similar situation with him," Huard said. "I was at Miami, backing up a guy named Dan Marino and when he got hurt, I got a chance to play and I played pretty well. It was because of that opportunity that I'm still in the league."

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The Times and democrat
By BART WRIGHT, Gannett News Service

[1stTake]

More More More before they blow away.

[cajun tom]

* The writer says Delhomme does not have the skills to make plays with his arm, passing the ball downfield and firing throws with pinpoint precision. I do not know what he has been watching. He either needs glasses or his Television is broken.

[Rebel02]

I just finished putting up "Good Luck Jake" on our reader board here at Kwik Kopy. (hint, hint). They wanted to put up Kevin Faulk too, but Jake is a customer of Kwik Kopy (we did his wedding invitations and a few other things), so we decided on Jake's name alone.

GEAUX CAJUNS!!!

[UL Ragin Cajun]

Corner Pantry on Eraste Landry has a sign up that says
Go Jake Go.

[Cajun Express]

Man, i want some milk from jake. If Law gives it out, I may have to forgo my favorite beverage for a year

[NewsCopy]

HOUSTON -- His eyes were wider during an early-week afternoon press conference than some of the winding two-lane blacktop roads that lazily snake their way into his laid-back hometown of Breaux Bridge, La.

Do not mistake the pie-eyed gaze of Jake Delhomme, though, for the kind of paralyzing awe that often overwhelms a player on his first Super Bowl trip.


Jake Delhomme threw 19 TDs during the regular season.
"Sometimes when he's in the huddle, and starts jabbering away with that (Cajun) accent of his that you can barely understand, his eyes get big like that," said Carolina center Jeff Mitchell of the Panthers starting quarterback. "But it is just Jake being excited, that's all. There's no fear factor with the guy. He's got a lot of (guts) in his pants and not much of a lump in his throat."

And, clearly, Delhomme has a touch of larceny in his heart, as well.

Several notches below anonymous just five months ago, Delhomme has emerged as the Panthers consummate cat burglar, the mastermind who must deliver if Carolina is to steal off with a Super Bowl victory over the favored and more experienced New England Patriots. It is a starring role, he will tell you in a self-deprecating lingo he has recently referred to as "mumble-jumble," he clearly relishes.

Actually, relish is hardly the condiment of choice for a guy with hot sauce on his mind and an even hotter hand over the second half of the season. Teammates liken him, given his Cajun heritage, to Bobby Boucher, the Adam Sandler character in the '98 movie "The Waterboy." Not a bad choice, except that there is nothing simple-minded about the sharp-witted Delhomme, and the only water he is toting onto the field is the icy stuff that has been coursing through his veins in the playoffs.

He is another in the lengthy lineage of Louisiana-bred passers who have made their way into the NFL. But names like those of Terry Bradshaw, Joe Ferguson, Bert Jones and, of course, Peyton Manning, among others, clearly have more profile. All he wants to do, acknowledged the likeable and candid-to-a-fault Delhomme, is carve his own niche. The fact he is here gives him, he grudgingly allowed, a pretty good start at whittlin' out a cranny of his own.

"Sure, I'm proud of what I've accomplished, what this team has accomplished, to this point," Delhomme said. "But there's still another step to take. Yeah, sometimes you have to pinch yourself to believe you're actually here. But only get to go back and enjoy the dream if you're the one still standing on Sunday night."

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By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

[NewsCopy]

HOUSTON - Jake Delhomme loves horses. He grew up on a horse farm in Breaux Bridge, La., and owns three race horses, though none is running at present. Super Bowl XXXVIII is his Kentucky Derby for now.

"I know they are not going to play 'My Old Kentucky Home' when we come out," said Delhomme, the storybook quarterback of the Carolina Panthers, 6 1/2-point underdogs to the Patriots in Sunday's game at Reliant Stadium. "(But) this is the pinnacle, where we are at."

The Panthers run on the strength of their defense and Delhomme's drives for the wire. Seven times in his first full season as an NFL starter the 29-year-old Delhomme has guided Carolina to winning drives on its final possession.

His dramatic quality was immediately apparent when Delhomme in Week One replaced starter Rodney Peete in the third quarter and led Carolina back from a 17-point deficit to defeat Jacksonville, 24-23.

"He is positive, enthusiastic; he has almost a hyper sense about him," said Jeff Mitchell, the center who snaps the ball to Delhomme. "I often compare him to somebody they just pulled out of the stands to play. It is like he is surprised and just happy to be out there. It is like the first time every time."

America beyond New England is falling in love with this story. If he had four legs, Delhomme, unwanted at various times it seemed by every NFL team, would be an Oscar-nominated movie.

"Sometimes if you're not the tallest guy, or don't have the strongest arm, you get pushed off to the side," said Delhomme. "One thing you can't measure out of all those (scouting) tests is someone's heart. I (always) thought I had a lot of heart."

But his heart couldn't get him drafted by the NFL in 1997 out of the University of Louisiana, where Delhomme passed for 9,216 yards. He became a practice-squad player and then a third-stringer for the New Orleans Saints, who cut him three times. After Delhomme did start two games for New Orleans in 1999, he threw only 10 passes for the Saints over the next three years.

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By DAVID PEVEAR, Sun Staff

[NewsCopy]

Enthusiastic Delhomme's emergence laid foundation for Panthers' Super season

HOUSTON — Odds are good that at some point early in Super Bowl XXXVIII, Panthers QB Jake Delhomme will lapse into the heavy Cajun accent he grew up with back home in Louisiana.

You see, for the excitable 29-year-old, the bigger the game, the faster Delhomme talks. And the faster Delhomme talks, the more he sounds like Bobby Boucher, the lead character in the Adam Sandler movie “The Waterboy.”

Which has the effect of leaving him and his teammates smiling and laughing in the huddle. During the game. Even in a game the magnitude of Sunday’s Super Bowl.

“He sticks his tongue out. It’s like he’s got marbles in his mouth. (We tell him) ‘Jake, slow down.’ But he’s just so excited he wants to line up and play,” Panthers WR Ricky Proehl said. “You know, we laugh about it. He’s like a little kid out there. We’re all so happy for his success just because we know what he’s been through. And you can tell he’s like a little kid. He tries to keep it all in as much as possible, but at times he can’t. Because he’s wanted to be “the guy” and he’s wanted to be the star quarterback in the Super Bowl.

“I’m excited for him. It’s awesome to see him go through and have the success he’s had and to lead this football team to where we are right now.”

And that’s the rub. As much as Delhomme’s teammates enjoy laughing with him and kidding him about his penchant for talking up his hometown of Breaux Bridge, La., his Cajun cuisine (think crawfish and shrimp) or his horses (he, his father and brothers are partners in a group that purchases and trains racehorses in Louisiana), they also have the utmost respect for him and love playing with him.

But don’t for a moment think that it’s a bad thing for the Panthers to be laughing and joking during a tense moment in a tight game. Just the opposite is true. It serves as a reminder to the other players that they’re playing a game and supposed to be having fun.

Break it down further, and it’s clear that Delhomme possesses the presence of a natural-born leader who can bring out the best in himself and his teammates while defusing pressure-filled situations and alleviating anxiety and nervousness.

“It’s Louisiana and horses and where he’s from and crawfish,” Proehl said in summing up Delhomme. “He’s a hometown boy, he’s a family man now. He’s all about family and friends. He’s a great guy, he’s a lot of fun to be around. And he brings that out in everybody — that energy and that excitement, that little kid in you.”

Delhomme arrived in Carolina as a little-known free agent this past offseason, following four years as a backup with the Saints. In fact, the Panthers and Cowboys were the only teams that saw enough in him to make a contract offer. He chose Carolina and hasn’t looked back.

“I remember reading the paper last year and guys like Joe Horn, in New Orleans, saying that (Delhomme) could be a starting quarterback in this league,” Panthers GM Marty Hurney said. “You don’t hear a lot of players say that about backup quarterbacks, and it was evident that his players liked him and rallied around him. Everything that we heard, and with what our pro scouts and coaches saw on tape, we just thought it was worth taking a chance.”

Added head coach John Fox: “Most of what we saw were intangible things. All he needed was an opportunity. He’s a guy who labored in NFL Europe and then as a backup quarterback in the NFL. And when he got his opportunities, he made the most of them.”

Though Delhomme had a solid preseason, Fox elected to go with veteran QB Rodney Peete for the Panthers’ season-opening game vs. the Jaguars.

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By Mike Holbrook
mholbrook@pfwmedia.com

[NewsCopy]

University of Louisiana campus picks up the craze

LOUISIANA La. — Before Jake Delhomme was a Super Bowl-bound quarterback, he was half of the Ragin’ Cajun duo, “Jake and Bake” with Brandon Stokley.

Many hoped both Ragin’ Cajun football players would be playing in the Super Bowl, but Delhomme, the Carolina Panthers quarterback, will face Carencro native Kevin Faulk’s New England Patriots on Sunday. Stokley’s Indianapolis Colts lost their bid for the Super Bowl to the Patriots in the conference championship game.

The love for Jake is spreading across campus, where signs and students sport Delhomme pride. On sorority row, the Tri-Delta house has been following Jake all season. His cousin, Tesa Bourque, kept her Tri-Delta sisters up to snuff this season and this week the sisters made a sign to hang in front of the Greek letters that face their house.

“I’ve never been that much into football, but now I am,” said Aimee Duplantis, Bourque’s Greek sister. “Everybody’s so proud, especially since he went to UL and played for UL.”

Bourque said she has kept her sorority sisters posted on season play and the ins and outs of the game. The craze for Jake didn’t start because her cousin’s team is bowl bound, Bourque said.

“I’ve always talked about him,” Bourque said. “He’s like my brother. I’m so proud of him, that he’s getting a chance.”

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Marsha Sills
msills@theadvertiser.com