Pro. Jake Delhomme

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Jake Delhomme's NFL Career Stats

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1997-98

A mistake was made that would go unnoticed for several years. It wasn't the kind of mistake that someone has to pay for. The mistake was simply that Jake Delhomme was not drafted. It didn''t matter Jake "The Man" Delhomme knew he could quarterback, all he needed was a chance. Even if he had to create his own chance.

Thanks to some kind words of recommendation from Saints offensive lineman, and former UL teammate, Keno Hills. Then couple that with his eye popping numbers while at the University of Louisiana, new Saints coach Mike Ditka made what could have been the smartest move of his Saints tenure, he signed Jake as a rookie free agent on June 10, 1997

Unfortunalty as is so often the case with undrafted free agents Jake was simply a camp body. The Saints did -after all- already have Heath Shuler, newly drafted Danny Wuerffel, experienced Jim Everett, and a strong armed Doug Nussmeier.

Jake was cut before the season began, was his career was over before it could begin? . . . NO Ditka pulled the already twice-benched and unproductive Heath Shuler from the starting lineup and replaced him as the starter with an equally unproductive Doug Nussmeier, then and there a frustrated Ditka knew he had to make changes.

So on November 19, 1997 Ditka placed Shuler on injured reserve, signed quarterback Billy Joe Hobert to a three-year contract.

That same day Mike Ditka resigned University of Louisiana quarterback Jake Delhomme to the practice squad.

Jake Delhomme's career in the NFL was born, sort of . . .

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The Saints assigned Jake to the Amsterdam Admirals.
He goes to NFL Europe and is on the same team as a young quarterback named Kurt Warner.

In preseason he out plays (*) Kurt, but the coach says he want's to go with experience.

* Kurt says such in his biography.

backing up Kurt Warner with the Amsterdam Admirals in 1998

http://www.packers.com/news/releases/1999/02/02-22.html

http://www.claymores.co.uk/news/1999/990223alloc2.shtml

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On 8-3-98 the NewStandard reported:

... Jake Delhomme might not make the New Orleans roster, but he impressed coach Mike Ditka in his first scrimmage, completing all four of his passes for 65 yards against the Chicago Bears.

"I thought Jake showed a lot of poise and was very accurate," Ditka said. "He had been spraying the ball around a little in practice. People told me he could play under pressure, though, and he did, very well."

With Heath Shuler still hobbled by a strained calf muscle and a foot that was surgically rebuilt during the offseason, Delhomme's chances of making the squad have improved. He's gotten more practice time and Ditka has noticed.

"He showed poise," Ditka said. "I know this isn't the first unit, but still, he made the right decisions, and when he threw the ball, he threw the ball very well."

Jake makes the team outright.

He was on the active roster in 1998 as the third quarterback for the first five weeks of the regular season, but was waived on Oct. 14, 1998 and then signed to the practice squad two days later.

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JAke Delhomme signed a second one-year contract with the Saints on Jan, 27, 1999.

Jake spent the spring of 1999 with the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe, taking them to the championship game.

He still holds a couple of NFL Europe records

The all-time completion percentage for a season

The top rushing average in a Title game.

and then helping lead the Frankfurt Galaxy to the 1999 World Bowl title.

http://www.s-t.com/daily/01-00/01-23-00/b01sp055.htm

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The NFL Europe champion was waived by the Saints at the final roster cutdown prior to the 99 season.

On Nov. 23, 1999 — The Saints fill a roster vacancy, the club signs quarterback Jake Delhomme.

http://www.pecos.net/news/arch99a/122299s.htm

Jake beats Dallas

http://www.s-t.com/daily/12-99/12-26-99/b03sp054.htm

Craig used Jake for inspiration

http://www.gazettearchives.com/panth...e/00000168.htm

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Jake had an excellent preseason, the best stats of any quarterback on the Saints roster, and inexplicably is named quarterback 2b by Jim Haslett and Mike Mcarthy at start of season.

He becomes 1b when Blake injures foot.

DELHOMME'S COOKIN'

In New Orleans, the Saints ensured some local flavor on their roster by keeping former Frankfurt Galaxy and Amsterdam Admirals quarterback Jake Delhomme, who spent his college days at Louisana-Lafayette.

Delhomme beat out friend and mentor Billy Joe Tolliver for the job by directing the Saints on two impressive late-game drives in their final preseason game -- a 99-yard touchdown march and a 47-yard jaunt that ended as time ran out in New Orleans' 22-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

"A 99-yard drive like that is pretty impressive," Tolliver told The Times-Picayune. "Jake is going to be a good player in this league for a long, long time."

http://www.andrewmason.com/clips/nfl/000829.html

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Jake has an excellent preseason one again with the highest NFC rating of any quarterback.

Jake holds on to position as the #2 quarterback.

historical file taken off line

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With the Saints up by 3. Jake Delhomme was brought in to relieve Aaron Brooks. All he had to do was get a first down. Except getting a first down to win the game against the NFL's #1 defense was by no means a sure thing.

After two straight unsuccessful running plays it was evident a pass was needed. The Saints knew it the Buc's knew it. Only a perfect pass would do the job.

Jake did it; he was 1 for 1 on the night.

[1stTake]

All I can say is "CLUTCH" What else do you expect from a University of Louisiana quarterback?

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Jake did it again, this time against Baltimore.

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Jake leads all NFL quarterbacks in the preseason quarterback rating.

He solidifies his legitimacy as a bonified NFL quarterback, when he goes 8 of 10 passing at crucial times during the regular season.

Here is the best story I have read on the Jake Delhomme story.

[NewsCopy]

Jake Delhomme has caught the eyes and minds of personnel people everywhere.

I'm here at the National Scouting Combine, and as always, there's more going on outside the workout facility than inside. . .

As I go around Indianapolis this weekend, the most interesting person being discussed is Saints QB Jake Delhomme . Forget about the negative things you may hear about a young man who has hardly played in the NFL in his four years -- there's lots of serious talk about this player. Some NFL publications don't even rank him in the top 50 prospects in free agency, yet a half-dozen teams appear ready to try and sign him as soon as the league sounds the gun to start free agency. People in the NFL appear to be slotting Delhomme right behind Plummer in free agency, and for some teams, right behind Carson Palmer and Byron Leftwich from the college draft pool. As I always say, the draft is married to free agency, and this is a good weekend to see the two personnel pools come together.

What makes Delhomme so interesting to me is the little concrete information teams have to go on. He threw 10 passes during the regular season, completing eight for 113 yards. That's it! During the preseason, he only threw 27 passes, completing 17 for 177 yards and one touchdown.

So where is the excitement being generated from? I went back into his history just like a former pro personnel person would do and tried to uncover the whole story about this little-known player.

The first thing I found out was that last spring when he was a restricted free agent he made two visits. Visits for workouts are legal and they give clubs valuable information for the future, just like the Combine is supposed to do if players work out. The Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs brought Jake in for a workout and an interview. He apparently impressed both teams with his arm strength, accuracy, athletic ability and his knowledge of the game. He had grown from a guy very few people knew anything about. Word spread about this diamond in the rough and genuine interest in him was born.

But he still has many doubters. Someone with apparently no knowledge of the workouts last spring wrote that he has little upside and is a marginal No. 2 quarterback heading into this season. I don't think the Panthers, Cowboys, Packers, Redskins and Bears -- among other teams -- share that view at this point. Most teams now view him as a guy ready to compete to start. Could he be another Kurt Warner or A.J. Feeley? More than one team is willing to pay to find out.

But more work had to be done if a team is going to "stay in the game" when contract talks start up next week. The consensus from people around the league who do a lot of player contracts is that Delhomme is going to get a three-year deal worth about $1.5 million per season with lots of incentives on the back end if he produces. As one QB coach said to me, "He's ready to be a 16-game starter, and I know it's a tough sell, but who was Lou Gehrig until Wally Pipp sat down?"

The rest of the story

By Pat Kirwan
Special to NFL.com

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March 1, 2003 9:16:49 PT Pat Yasinskas reports for the Charlotte Observer free agent QB Jake Delhomme (Saints) may visit the Carolina Panthers on Monday or Tuesday.

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March 1, 2003 18:59:46 PT The Washington Post reports the Washington Redskins are now attempting to sign free agent QB Rob Johnson (Buccaneers). Johnson is the Redskins top choice to back up starting QB Patrick Ramsey next season, sources said. According to sources, team officials have spoken to the representatives for free agent QB Jake Delhomme (Saints), but they are more interested in Johnson.

March 1, 2003 10:12:15 PT John Mullin of ChicagoSports.com reports the QB Jake Delhomme (Saints) will be visiting the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday.