Tony Grossi Plain Dealer Reporter Cleveland -- Jake Delhomme knows the Tampa Bay Buccaneers better than anyone in the Browns' locker room. With Carolina, he beat the Panthers' NFC South rival nine times in 11 starts. He also beat the Bucs with one pass coming off the bench for New Orleans in a game in 2002. He said he...
Tony Grossi
Plain Dealer Reporter
Cleveland -- Jake Delhomme knows the Tampa Bay Buccaneers better than anyone in the Browns' locker room.
With Carolina, he beat the Panthers' NFC South rival nine times in 11 starts. He also beat the Bucs with one pass coming off the bench for New Orleans in a game in 2002.
He said he has a lot of respect for their speed on defense, their intensity and their ballhawking. The Bucs intercepted him 14 times in his 11 starts against them.
So don't for a second think that Delhomme sized up the Browns' 2010 schedule when it came out, like most of their fans, and circled the season-opener in Tampa as a gimme, or even a "must win."
"Never," Delhomme said of handicapping a season based on the schedule. "I used to. I quit about six or seven years ago, after our Super Bowl year [2003]. We go to the Super Bowl and think, 'We're going back next year, there's no doubt.' And we started out 1-7, so that went out the window way back when.
"You can't look at a schedule in July. Who knows about injuries? Things change so much. And if you do that, you're really doing a disservice to yourself. I know it's coachspeak, but if you don't take it one game at a time . . . Honestly, and you're gonna laugh at me, I might know who we play the first three weeks, but other than that I really don't know. I don't pay attention to what's down the line. It does you no good. I don't even know when our bye is this year."
Delhomme's wizened voice in the locker room is one reason why he was signed by Browns President Mike Holmgren 10 days after Carolina released him in March. It's also why he was elected by his teammates this week as one of six team captains.
By the nature of the position, the quarterback -- if he has any ounce of respect from his teammates -- should expect to be voted a team captain. But it certainly hasn't automatically happened here in the past. Neither quarterback last year garnered the vote.
So when the Browns take the field in Tampa on Sunday, you would feel they are in better hands at the position than in the recent past.
Outsiders may judge Delhomme on his 23 interceptions over his last 12 games with Carolina. But those who know him well -- especially opponents -- have a much higher opinion.
"Jake's the consummate pro," Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris said on a conference call Wednesday. "He's a guy that can find people all across the board. He gets the ball into his playmakers' hands."
Veteran Tampa cornerback Ronde Barber said, "I know Jake very well. We have a great feeling of some of the things he's brought to Cleveland. They're the same things we saw him do in Carolina. He's never had the strongest arm, but he knows how to deliver the ball to the right guys. He's probably the best back shoulder-throw guy I've ever seen. His confidence in himself is what makes him a great player."
The last observation made by Barber is particularly cogent. If Delhomme's descent in Carolina can be largely attributed to a loss of confidence, then restoring it obviously is the key to his success with his new team.
And Delhomme's dead-eye accuracy in roughly six quarters work in the preseason -- 38-of-48 for 79.2 completion percentage, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 110.5 -- has him entering the season on a positive note. That change-of-scenery hope of Holmgren looks to be coming to fruition.
"I think the biggest thing is having the same approach since I've been here in spring -- just come and play football, let the offense work for itself," Delhomme said. "That's what I've tried to do all preseason. Don't change who you are, or what you are. Things have kind of gone somewhat smoothly so far. I'm just trying to keep that same approach."
Delhomme knows the weather challenge that awaits the Browns on Sunday. He has opened a season in hot and humid Tampa on two occasions and has played there in September one other time. But the stifling conditions will be offset by the excitement of a new beginning.
"It's always different every year. It seems like you always have to fly over for the opener and for whatever reason that just makes everybody . . . the spine just tingles," he said. "For me, it's always special because you never know if it's going to be your last season opener. That's how I've approached the last couple years. You just have to enjoy it. The emotions do fly, no doubt. It's opening day."
Like the rest of us, Delhomme is unsure about what to expect from the Browns' offense -- at the start and over the season."We're excited to get going," he said. "Offensively, it's going to be up to us to define ourselves. How do we define the 2010 Browns? It starts this week. Certainly, I think this team ran the ball extremely well last year. That's something if you can do that consistently in the NFL, you're going to be in every game and give yourself a chance to win."