Superbowl QB Knows The “Shovel” Pass
January 2nd, 2004by Jude T. Feld
Panther QB Jake Delhomme
On the first Sunday of February, before Beyonce belts out the national anthem, Jake Delhomme will take to the field in Houston’s Reliant Stadium for Superbowl XXXVIII. Star quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, Delhomme got to the Superbowl the old-fashioned way – he earned it.
Despite record-breaking performances at Teurlings Catholic High School and the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, the young man raised on a 14-acre horse farm in Breaux Bridge, was passed over in the 1997 NFL draft, but got signed by the New Orleans Saints, who cut him at the end of training camp.
After a couple of years playing for the Amsterdam Admirals and the Frankfort Galaxy of the NFL Europe, Delhomme got another shot with the Saints in 1999 but was cut again. Not easily discouraged, he continued working out while tending to the Thoroughbreds on the farm.
Raising horses is a Delhomme family tradition, started by Jake’s grandfather Sanders Delhomme, a Cajun farmer, who raised quarter horses. Sanders passed that love of racing on to Jake’s dad, Jerry, who works for the Department of Agriculture while moonlighting as a horse trainer. He in turn got Jake and his brother Jeff interested in the sport.
“I never gave up,” Jake said. “I’ve been home during the season before, and I love horses, but I’ll tell you what, 10 weeks into the season, I’d had enough of ’em. I’m dying for the phone to ring and it was sure easy to tell the horses goodbye when it finally did.”
It was the Saints that came looking for Delhomme this time.
With a dismal 2-12 record and nothing to lose but his job, coach Mike Ditka gave Jake a chance to start in a nationally televised game against the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Eve. With the Cowboys still in contention for the playoffs, the lowly Saints figured to get hammered.
Delhomme put on a clinic, throwing for two touchdowns while rushing for another. Final score: New Orleans 31, Dallas 24.
“Naturally, I rank that as one of the highest moments of my career,” he said. “It’s a special moment and it’s something I’ll always treasure.”
This season has been filled with many more high points, including a berth in the NFL’s biggest game, but Delhomme is philosophical.
“If you start thinking all high and mighty because you play football, you come back here and Dad says, ‘It’s time to clean the stalls.’ I don’t hunt or fish, so this is my love. I’d love to have a barn full of horses one day.”
Used to shoveling manure during the off-season, Delhomme has learned the racing business from the ground up.
“Where I come from, we don’t hire anybody to do our work,” he stated. “We do it ourselves. I’m pretty good at cleaning stalls. At least that’s what daddy tells me.”
Delhomme now owns seven racehorses, including a filly named Ruthy Red, that he claimed at Delta Downs on the night of the Panther’s big win over the Philadelphia Eagles which put him in the Superbowl.
“Jake was more excited about the filly than he was about winning the game,” Dad Jerry was quoted in the New Orleans Times – Picayune.
From what I know about Jake Delhomme, that sounds like manure to me.
