Highlighted Year: Jake Delhomme, 2005

Quarterback, Carolina Panthers

Age: 30

7^th season in pro football (5^th active), 3^rd with Panthers

College: Louisiana - Lafayette

Height: 6’2”   Weight: 215

Prelude:

Delhomme passed for 9216 yards and 64 TDs in college but went undrafted by the NFL in 1997. He was signed as a free agent by the New Orleans Saints and spent his first two seasons on the practice squad while being farmed out to the WLAF. He backed up Kurt Warner with the Amsterdam Admirals in 1998 and split the starting job with Pat Barnes for the Frankfurt Galaxy in ’99, passing for 1410 yards and 12 touchdowns with only five interceptions. Delhomme continued to be a backup with the Saints, seeing limited action, before moving on to Carolina as a free agent in 2003 where he became the starter and had surprising success. He passed for 3219 yards and 19 TDs and did remarkably well under pressure, engineering eight come-from-behind wins. The Panthers won the NFC Championship and narrowly lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl, with Delhomme performing capably. He followed up by passing for 3886 yards and 29 TDs in ’04, which was otherwise a down year for the team. Lacking mobility and a strong arm, Delhomme made up for it by being intelligent and a good leader, well-suited to Carolina’s conservative offense.

2005 Season Summary

Appeared and started in all 16 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Passing

Attempts – 435 [15]

Most attempts, game – 38 at Chicago 11/20

Completions – 262 [13, tied with Mark Brunell]

Most completions, game – 22 at Chicago 11/20

Yards – 3421 [11]

Most yards, game – 341 vs. Minnesota 10/30

Completion percentage – 60.2

Yards per attempt – 7.9 [4]

TD passes – 24 [4, tied with Matt Hasselbeck, Drew Brees & Eli Manning, 1^st in NFC]

Most TD passes, game – 3 at Miami 9/25, vs. Minnesota 10/30

Interceptions – 16 [5]

Most interceptions, game – 3 at Detroit 10/16

Passer rating – 88.1 [12]

300-yard passing games – 1

200-yard passing games – 10

Rushing

Attempts – 24

Most attempts, game – 4 (for 1 yd.) vs. Atlanta 12/4

Yards – 31

Most yards, game – 17 yards (on 2 carries) vs. New Orleans 9/11

Average gain – 1.3

TDs – 1

Scoring

TDs – 1

Points – 6

Postseason: 3 G

Pass attempts – 90

Most pass attempts, game – 35 at Seattle, NFC Championship

Pass completions – 54

Most pass completions, game – 24 at Chicago, NFC Divisional playoff

Passing yardage – 655

Most passing yards, game – 319 at Chicago, NFC Divisional playoff

TD passes – 5

Most TD passes, game – 3 at Chicago, NFC Divisional playoff

Interceptions – 4

Most interceptions, game – 3 at Seattle, NFC Championship

Rushing attempts – 5

Most rushing attempts, game – 3 at Seattle, NFC Championship

Rushing yards – 24

Most rushing yards, game – 15 at Seattle, NFC Championship

Average gain rushing – 4.8

Rushing TDs – 0

Awards & Honors:

Pro Bowl

Panthers went 11-5 to finish second in the NFC South while qualifying for the postseason as a Wild Card entry. Won NFC Wild Card playoff over New York Giants (23-0) and NFC Divisional playoff over Chicago Bears (29-21). Lost NFC Championship to Seattle Seahawks (34-14).

Aftermath:

Delhomme suffered through an inconsistent year in 2006, with a thumb injury causing him to miss three late-season games, and he was limited to three games in ’07 due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. He came back strong in 2008 to pass for 3288 yards and 15 touchdowns as the team improved to 12-4, but faltered badly in a five-interception loss to the Cardinals in the postseason. A poor 2009 season brought an end to Delhomme’s tenure with the Panthers and he finished up with the Browns and Texans, who signed him during the 2011 season after injuries depleted the quarterback corps. Overall, Delhomme threw for 20,975 yards and 126 TDs in the NFL, with 19,258 of those yards and 120 touchdowns coming with Carolina.

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating

Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)

All-Purpose: Total Yards

Defense: Interceptions, Sacks

Kickoff Returns: Average

Punt Returns: Average

Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970