Pro. Jake Delhomme

[PantherCanada]

All-time postseason passer rating
(min. 150 pass attempts)
QB Rating
Jake Delhomme 108.4
Bart Starr 104.8
Joe Montana 95.6
Ken Anderson 93.5
Kurt Warner 92.3

Here's a link which verifies it:

ESPN.com

I am so proud of Jake.

[studentfan]

And he wasn't good enough to start for the Saints! LOL!!!!!

[NewsCopy]

Charlotte — Carolina's Jake Delhomme has won five of six playoff games (a league-record-tying four on the road) and owns the NFL's highest career postseason passer rating. Funny thing since nobody drafted him. Teams spend millions of dollars to scout college players and millions more to sign those drafted in the first round like AFC Championship game quarterbacks Jake Plummer (Denver) and Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh). Yet sometimes teams turn the keys to their castles over to guys who might have been picked to sweep dungeons — men like Delhomme and his counterpart in Sunday's NFC Championship game, Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck. He was a sixth-round pick of Green Bay in 1998, spent a season on the practice squad and was traded in 2001. "We know we weren't picked on the first day of the draft or even the second day for some of us," Delhomme said. "I love seeing Matt have success. Kurt Warner, Marc Bulger, these are guys I kind of know a little bit. "Tom Brady has done all right for a sixth-round pick. I think we cherish the opportunity when we get it. That's the biggest thing. We had to come into the NFL almost through a back door. There's a hidden bond, I guess." When St. Louis won the Super Bowl six years ago, they rode the arm of two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner, who wasn't drafted out of Northern Iowa. Delhomme knows that tale. He was a fine high school quarterback, but overshadowed in Louisiana by fellow prep star Peyton Manning. Most knew him as an All-State defensive back. After playing at Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana-LaFayette), no team drafted him and New Orleans signed him and sent him to NFL Europe to be Warner's backup at Amsterdam. A year later he led Frankfurt to the NFL Europe title, but Delhomme played in just six games for the Saints from 1998-2002, starting twice. He doesn't act like a man scorned. Team officials put him at a podium Wednesday to accommodate a huge media contingent. In the regular season, he routinely sits at his locker during the season, chatting amiably unlike many NFL quarterbacks, who are available once a week. The rest of the story By MATT WINKELJOHN The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

[derf]

what a classy guy

[studentfan]

I wonder what Leon has to say about that.

[NewsCopy]

NFL teams can pass on top college QBs and still go to head of class In the '90s, the route to the Super Bowl was clearly defined. Draft an elite college quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick and sit back and collect the rings. From 1992 through 1998, top picks Troy Aikman and John Elway led their teams to five Super Bowls. In the two years they missed, Hall-of-Fame bound Steve Young and Brett Favre passed their way to Lombardi Trophies. Before them, Pittsburgh's Terry Bradshaw and the Raiders' Jim Plunkett won six Super Bowls after being selected first in the draft. In the 21st century, the path is not so easily charted. Sixth-round pick Tom Brady already has won three Super Bowls in New England, and Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson won Super Bowls without really even being key components of their teams. Sunday's conference championship games continue the departure from the accepted rule. There are no top-10 picks starting at quarterback in Denver or Seattle. Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger, the third quarterback drafted in 2004, is the only first-round pick. He goes against Jake Plummer, a second-round pick who spent six seasons in Arizona confirming doubts as to his arm strength and leadership. Only once in those six years did he throw more touchdown passes than interceptions, but working with Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has reshaped his career. In Seattle, a sixth-round pick of the Packers (Matt Hasselbeck) goes against an undrafted free agent and former Saint (Jake Delhomme). Hasselbeck spent three years watching Favre in Green Bay, which means he didn't get much playing time. He threw all of 29 passes in those years, but former Packers and current Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren had an idea as to his untapped talent. Now he's a Pro Bowler one step away from a Super Bowl. But the most bizarre tale of all is that of Delhomme, who is one victory from his second Super Bowl appearance. That's more Super Bowls than Dan Marino or Joe Namath or Young ever started. And that comes after six years in New Orleans in which Delhomme started two games. One of those was a victory over Dallas that helped get Chan Gailey fired. The rest of the story

[lxa656]

Who do you want leading your team in the playoffs? Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio is having that very discussion as I type. Cowherd and even the callers are giving Jake some love. Cowherd is putting him up there with some of the greats of all time and calling him clutch! Very interesting if anyone wants to tune in.

What are these NFL teams thinking? Why would they want a Sun Belt Qb over a mighty SEC Qb?


Oh, and finally, Aaron Brooks is still a better QB. Jake just got put into a better system!

[Cajun Express]

Oh, and finally, Aaron Brooks is still a better QB. Jake just got put into a better system!

You mean a system where a player instills confidence in his coaches and players and showers his teamates with all the glory. Yep that is our boy Jake.

[NewsCopy]

RALEIGH, N.C. (NYT) - There still are times, the Carolina Panthers' Jordan Gross says, when Jake Delhomme gets a little too excited in the huddle. Delhomme's Louisiana Cajun twang noticeably thickens. The words come out too quickly. It's hard for Gross, the starter at right tackle, and the others to understand everything flowing out of the quarterback's mouth. "He gets so fired up it makes you laugh," Gross said. "He can be such a passionate guy when it comes to football. "But one thing we know about Jake: He's a great leader. He's the kind when it's all on the line, with a big play to be made, you can rely on him because you know he's not going to crack under pressure. He thrives on it." That's the Panthers' point of view, of course. Carolina is in the NFC Championship Game for the second time in three years, and Delhomme is a huge part of it. Everyone in the Panthers' locker room will say much the same about their quarterback as they prepare for the Seattle Seahawks. But maybe it's also the best way to explain why Delhomme can sometimes look so average during the regular season, then almost unbeatable in the playoffs. The man from Breaux Bridge, is 5-1 in playoff games, the loss in the Super Bowl two years ago, and has the highest playoff passing rating of anyone who has ever played in the NFL. With 10 touchdowns and two interceptions, Delhomme has a rating of 108.4. Bart Starr, who led Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers to titles in the 1960s, had a 104.8 rating in 10 games. Joe Montana? The former San Francisco star was at 95.6 in 23 games with the 49ers and Kansas City. Only three quarterbacks have guided their teams to four playoff road wins: Delhomme, former Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson and former Cowboys star Roger Staubach. Not bad company. "Jake is playing with so much confidence," Seahawks defensive end Bryce Fisher said. "When you're in the playoffs, you don't have that grind of the regular season and can be at your best. He's doing a great job of breaking down the other team and he's making plays." The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

PATRICK SCHNEIDER/CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Quarterback Jake Delhomme, who began his NFL career as an undrafted free agent, will play in his second NFC title game in three years Sunday. Super Bowls, NFC championships and Pro Bowls – the whole thing boggles Jake Delhomme’s mind. That an undrafted free agent out of Louisiana-Lafayette, a castoff of the New Orleans Saints, and a veteran of NFL Europe could be on the verge of a second Super Bowl is really hard to believe. “Never did I ever dream when I signed here that we were going to go to the Super Bowl our first year and the NFC Championship Game two of my first three years,” said Delhomme, the Carolina Panthers quarterback “My big thing was simply to come in and, if given the opportunity, I felt I could be a productive starter in the NFL.” Delhomme has surpassed his – and everyone else’s – expectations. In his third season with the Panthers, he has cemented his status as the starter. If he can lead Carolina past the Seattle Seahawks in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Qwest Field, he’ll become the 17th quarterback to start in at least two Super Bowls. It’s no fairy tale but it’s close. Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is one of the few people who not only appreciates what Delhomme has gone through, but has lived it. Hasselbeck, as a sixth-round draft choice, was buried on the depth chart of the Green Bay Packers just like Delhomme was with the Saints. Hasselbeck knows what it’s like to be sentenced to the practice squad and to spend fall afternoons on the sideline with a clipboard in his hands and a baseball cap on his head. And come February, Hasselbeck will join Delhomme in Hawaii. Hasselbeck is supposed to start this year’s Pro Bowl; Delhomme was picked as the backup. “I think he is a great quarterback,” Hasselbeck said. “I think he has had a great year. “He is a guy you definitely root for. I am happy that he has had success.” This season, Delhomme posted a career-high passer rating of 88.1. He threw for 3,421 yards with 24 touchdowns and 16 interceptions while completing 60.2 percent of his passes. Then the playoffs started and he did even better. In two games, he’s hit on 70.9 percent of his passes with four TDs and one interception. More importantly, the Panthers beat the Giants in New York and the Bears in Chicago with the fired-up Delhomme leading the way. “What they’ve done, gone on the road and won, you know he’s a tough guy,” Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. “He’s a good football player. I think both John Fox and Mike Holmgren are happy with their quarterbacks right now.” Fox, the Panthers’ coach, said the passing game is better this season than in 2003 when the Panthers advanced to the Super Bowl. The rest of the story DARRIN BEENE; The News Tribune