Remembering Jake Delhomme
by Negative Man on Mar 5, 2010 6:39 AM EST
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I have a few thoughts about the Panthers' cut of Jake Delhomme. I'd really encourage readers to post their favorite memories of Jake Delhomme here. He is a stand-up guy, and he was the best quarterback in the history of our team.
Honestly, my favorite memory of Jake was during the Super Bowl against the Patriots. It's not actually a "play," it's an after-play. Jake had just thrown a touchdown pass, getting us back into the game, and as he ran down the field to celebrate, the Patriots' bad-ass safety Rodney Harrison gave Jake a shot.
It should have been a fifteen-yard penalty flag, but instead of whining about it like Tom Brady would have, Jake turned around, stuck his finger in Harrison's face, and said something crazy/angry/humorous in Cajun: it translated in my mind to "You don't scare me. I've got a lot more fight in me. Just wait till I get the ball back again."
I have no idea what Jake said, but that image was near and dear to my heart. Honestly, the Panthers had often been the pushovers in the league, and at that moment I felt like my team had a fighter. I felt it again after the team lost, and there's a great image of Delhomme after the final seconds of the Super Bowl ticked off. He looked ticked off! His expression said: "If we had one more possession, we would've won this game."
It's true that Jake had a complete meltdown in two-years-ago playoffs, and he continued that in most of the games in 2009. It was very clear that Coach Fox should have pulled Delhomme after the third game. It's like a baseball manager: sometimes your star pitcher has a bad night, or many nights. You've got to pull him. Fox waited way too long.
In any case, I just wanted to say: Jake, Thank You! You are a fighter, a leader, a very good quarterback when your game was on, and you made me look forward to every Sunday.
Again, I'd really encourage readers to post their favorite memories of Jake. I'd really like to re-live them.
Final thought:
-- John Fox and Marty Hurney absolutely have to get to the playoffs next year and win one game. Otherwise, they need to go. They obviously gave Jake the contract extension last year in order to clear cap space to franchise Julius Peppers. I think it's fair to say that most of the Panther Nation thought: "What the heck? This is a bad move." And we were right.
It was simply a very bad move by Hurney/Fox. I'm not a math wizard, but figuring in Jake's signing bonus, minus Jake's original contract for 2009, etc., I'd guess that Hurney/Fox cost Mr. Richardson at least 9 million dollars.
Mr. Richardson is a tolerant and patient man. It's my opinion, based on finances -- and Darin Gantt has a great article about this -- that cutting Jake now was the right move. That said, Hurney/Fox... You're on the clock.
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Jake Memories
Three quick memories:
1. Jake entering the first game in 03, engineering the comeback, and throwing the winning touchdown pass. Little did we know we were on the way to the Superbowl at that moment.
2. The Bears and Giants playoff games in 05. Jake and Smitty just were in synch and the touchdowns just kept coming.
3. The Bears game in 08 when he got late hit by Briggs, got a no call, and then hoped up and had to be restrained from going after a linebacker. The team got fired up, and then we went on to win the game.
Biggest/favorite play
The winning TD pass to Smitty against the Rams in the divisional round on the way to the 2003 SB. I was so pumped after that victory! I’ll never forget it.
Nice post Negative Man
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
+100
That double OT game was insane.
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
I also blog the Panthers at www.realbitsofpanthers.com
His energy,
Watching Jake jump up and down like a pee wee football player when we were winning was always great. He has such passion for the game, and we could always see it as fans. I really wish we dropped him to #2 or #3 because I don’t think most of the Panthers faithful wanted to see him go. I hope he is brought back as a coach or front office personnel, and that if he isn’t picked up somewhere else the Panthers pay him a few more bucks to come out and retire a Panther on the first day of the Season.
We will miss you Jake.
If God came down on Christmas Day
I know exactly what He'd say
He'd say "Oi!" to the punks
and "Oi!" to the skins
but "Oi!" to the world and everybody wins.
-The Vandals
If not for the uncapped season Delhomme would be the #2
I bet he tries to catch on somewhere else.
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
Yeah I know
If he still wants to play I hope he gets picked up somewhere, but for me it will be like watching Montana play for KC. He will always be a Panther to me.
If God came down on Christmas Day
I know exactly what He'd say
He'd say "Oi!" to the punks
and "Oi!" to the skins
but "Oi!" to the world and everybody wins.
-The Vandals
More than one highlight, I'll remember him for his class, in all circumstances.
He was a great leader for his teammates, and they knew it. He never shirked from taking the responsibility for a loss on himself, never shifted or even leveled blame on others, always gave his best effort – which is all any of us can ever do.
Compared to so many other professional athletes, he got as much out of his God-given talents as any I can recall. Maybe Sonny Jurgenson, or Joe Kapp were comparable.
Even last season...
vs. Washington. Jake’s naked bootleg and shimmy he put on DeAngelo Hall for the First Down was priceless. He was super-pumped after that… I’ll miss his fire.
Good memory for sure...lol...Delhomme 'shimmied'
Hall should have just retired right after that play…
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
I'll never forget that
I really thought that would be the beginning of his ‘comeback’ a lot of us were hoping for. I don’t think I ever cheered for him so much as I did after that play. You could see the determination to just win a damn game and get us out of that rut; Jake’s always been that fighter. I bet Hall still gets made fun of and I know Smith loved to see that happen.
Another memory I'll never forget:
During that Eagles game which we shouldn’t speak of, Smith and Delhomme are sitting on the bench together, Delhomme obviously killing himself mentally. Smith looks at him and says “I never really liked you as a quarterback. But as a person, that’s who I love.”
I just think that sums up fully how a lot of us feel about Delhomme. Little did we know that was the beginning of the end of his time here.
Jake Delhomme memory
Best on-field memory: Jake sprinting downfield after SB touchdown pass, pointing to the stands, smiling ear-to-ear.
Worst on-field memory: Sour face Jake, when it was all bad for him on any given Sunday. When you saw it, you knew the game was over.
Best overall memory: Meeting Jake at camp, getting his signature and watching my kids light up whem he spoke with them. Class guy, all the way. My family, for one, will miss you in Carolina black-and-blue, but you’ll live in our hearts forever. Good luck.
Panther Dan
remembering jake
jake is the reason i started watching football 7 years ago.i finally got to go to a game this year, but unfortunately it was after he was injured. i am sorry i never got to see him play, but i did have the honor of meeting him and getting him to autogragh my jersey(priceless) and watching him in practice. my favorite on field memory is a comical one. i cant remember what team he was playing a few years ago, but his pants ripped open and his butt was hanging out, but he kept right on playing …lol…..also i loved watching his facial expressions, especailly the tongue hanging out. i am going to miss you in carolina black and blue. good luck.
Jake Delhomme - always MY #1 Quarterback
Jake brought such a spirit to the Carolina Panthers. He played with his heart and soul and is one of the most geniune, good people in the NFL. I had the honor of meeting him at last year’s Panthers Fan Trip. He was always as big as life to me and I have to say that meeting him was the highlight of 2009 for me. He autographed my jersey and I have it hanging proudly in my home and it will remain on the wall. What makes me admire him so much is the fact that he is the first one to admit when he has made a mistake and is not to proud to talk about it. He did a lot of great things for the Carolina Panthers, including taking us to one of the most amazing Super Bowls ever played. It will be really hard to watch the games next season and not seem him there. I am a die-hard Panthers fan, and will remain tru to my team. I wish Jake all of the best that life can bring and you will always be my #1 quarterback!! Good luck, Jake ~ you will certainly be missed in the Carolinas!!!!!
Wow, this is unbelievable...
Just a month ago, it seems like every Panther fan hated Jake and wanted to spit in his face…and now they are all in mourning and having candlelight vigils for the man???? Child please….
Correction..
Panther fans were upset with his lacking play as well as our coaching staff for not benching him earlier in the year. There may have been a few hyperbole comments during game-time threads that expressed the sentiment of “cutting him” but I don’t know of many that sincerely supported the notion. The idea was that Delhomme would return in 2010 as Moore’s back-up and we’d have one of the best back-ups in the league. To see him cut not only blindsided him but we fans as well. I mean, people were calling for the guy to take a coaching position rather than leave the Panthers for good, despite his terrible play. There is no doubt that we, as fans, called Delhomme out for every little mistake he made but that doesn’t mean we want to see him out-right cut and gone. For the most part of 7 years he has been the face of the Carolina Panthers every Sunday, for that to change so abruptly certainly caught me off guard. Watching the Panthers on Sunday without seeing Delhomme somewhere is something it’s definitely going to take me a while to adjust to but something that they felt was essential to moving forward.
Cajun Fan
All of his games on sunday and one truly memorable Sat night when he was still at the University of Southwestern Louisana(Louisiana-Lafayette now) when a small Sun Belt team beat then ranked Texas A&M. Jakes always been a class guy. Hope to see him play again on Sundays again.
Favorite Memory
No doubt it was the Jacksonville game. I remember seeing Jake come in after Fox benched Peete and I thought, who the F**k is Jake Delhomme. haha…what a classy guy. No matter how bad he played on a sunday, when I watched his press conferences after the games, and he manned up and took all the blame, sometimes even when it wasn’t his fault, I couldn’t help but love this guy. Classiest guy in the NFL by a longshot, its not even close. Can’t wait for that day he signs with the Panthers to retire.
I'm not the most experienced Carolina fan
I only began following them in earnest in 2005. But I have to say, that year, Delhomme made me a believer. That connection to Smith was magical. And then I went back and looked at what he had done, all the victories, and he was forever cemented in my heart as the Panthers best QB. 2006 was a tough year, but even then you could see his fire and late game magic. In 07, he was tearing it up, and I thought to myself, “Finally, he’s going to prove to the league why he’s the best.” But that injury was the beginning of the end. He still kept on fighting, and gave me my best memory as a Panther, that 08 season. San Diego, Chicago, Arizona (round 1), and Green Bay, all wins that we pulled out due in large part to Jake Delhomme. He’s my favorite QB of all time, and it’s very close between him and Minter for favorite Panther.
The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Miss Jake, wish him the best
My favorite memories of Jake are very sentimental to me. I was in my late 2nd trimester when I would listen to the Pre-Season in 03 when Jake was playing. I thought who is this guy. First game of the 2003 season against Jacksonville, after the rough start with Rodney Peet, I was screaming, why in the heck is Jake Delhomme not in the game. Half time switch and that was history in the making. The whole season was wonderful and by the time we were in the Super Bowl, I had my bouncy baby boy in my arms. I would roll my fingers saying Roll Kitty Kats! That was a great Super Bowl, the outcome sucked, but it was still a wonderful game and Jake was terrific! Jake gave us many good games, and it was to bad how this season unfolded. He is a great player, with a great heart, and I wish him all the best in the future.
His 2008 Comeback against San Diego
I agree with all of the moments that were mentioned before, but another really fun moment for me was the first game of 2008 @ the Chargers. We were down 4 and Delhomme led the two minute offense just like he did before his injury, to put us into striking distance. It was 4th down with two seconds to go and Delhomme threaded a needle to find rosario in the back of the endzone as time expired.
That was a huge with without Smitty.
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