Starter: Jake Delhomme and His Mantears

Who Is He? Jake Delhomme was the quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, and now he’s not. That’s really all you need to know about him.

Why Do We Like Him? Well, we don’t really like him a whole lot. In fact, we’re pretty much indifferent to him, but we reserve our “benchwarmers” designation for people who totally suck. Since we don’t dislike him that much, we wouldn’t feel very good making him ride the pine. Plus, he used to be a pretty good quarterback. Sure, it was a long time ago, but I’d trust 2003 Jake Delhomme to run my offense. That was the year he led the Panthers to Super Bowl XXXVIII and even had them on the verge of winning until their “idiot kicker” basically handed the game back to the Patriots. Plus, he earns some points for the way he handled his recent press conference and discussed his release. Not only did he openly answer questions about his 18-interception 2009 season (still less than Jay Cutler…), he also now faces the 2010 NFL off-season in man tears. After playing as poorly as he did last year, answering questions about that season couldn’t have been easy, but he admitted, “I played not to make a mistake,” which doesn’t work in the NFL. He also said the line, “If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to babble out an answer for you.” That alone makes him a little more likable. For Oregon State Beavers fans (like myself), Delhomme’s departure means former Beaver Matt Moore will likely be the Panthers starting QB going into the season. Here’s video of Jake Delhomme’s man tear-filled press conference. The waterworks start right away.