http://www.gastongazette.com/section...ex.aspx?id=116
Super Bowl or bust for Jake
by Steve Reed
Gazette Sports Reporter
CHARLOTTE — Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme said nothing short of a Super Bowl championship will make him happy this season.
On the final day of the Panthers summer school coaching sessions on Thursday, Delhomme addressed the media and said the team is clearly focused on the sole prize at the end of the season, the Vince Lombardi trophy.
“That’s why you play this game,” Delhomme said. “You don’t play this game to go 8-8 or to go 10-6 and play one round in the playoffs. You don’t do that. You play to get yourself in the game and win it.
“We’ve had a taste of that in 2003 (losing 32-29 to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII) and then we made a run last year and it wasn’t good enough. You want to get in the big show. You want to be there. You want to be champion. I’m envious of Pittsburgh. They are the champions.”
High expectations surround the Panthers in 2006.
After a strong run in the playoffs last year, the Panthers were blown out (34-14) by the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship game. But the team has added three big-ticket players in free agency and the core of the team returns.
Delhomme remembers the NFC title game well and the loss still eats away at him.
“When you get your butt beat you can easily say they were better than us or you ran out of gas,” Delhomme said. “But we didn’t play well. It starts with me and everyone else. It hurt not having DeShaun Foster or losing Nick (Goings) early on (to injury), but that’s part of it. That’s the way this game goes. But we’re back at it again.”
Delhomme likes the improvements the Panthers have made this offseason, including the addition of free agent wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson.
“He’s not going to wow you in shorts and he knows that,” Delhomme said of working with Johnson during non-padded workouts. “He’s not one of these burners. But it’s the little things he does, the blocking. ... He’s strong and big and just today he made some catches in the red zone area. He’s just a big body. He has great hands and if you throw it anywhere around him he’s going to catch it.
“He will be a great addition for us, and especially for (fellow receiver) Steve Smith. We all know what we want — we want one-on-one matchups for Steve.”
But Delhomme knows the strength of the team is still its defense.
“I know on defense we’re extremely talented, especially up front,” he said. “If we can all stay healthy we’ve got a pretty strong defense. The defensive front, the size, the strength and the way they move, they will only make us better as on offense going against them in training camp.”
Already, Street and Smith’s magazine has predicted the Panthers to win the Super Bowl, and surely other major publications and Internet sites will follow suit in the next few months.
Delhomme isn’t ready to predict anything, but he likes the vibe he’s getting in practice.
“We got good work in,” Delhomme said. “Now it’s time to get away from it mentally and get yourself ready physically. When we report to training camp it’s a marathon. We have one weekend off from late July up until hopefully February. That’s the goal.”
In the meantime, Delhomme will be dreaming of helping the Panthers win their first Super Bowl.
“You want your peers to know that you’re a Super Bowl champ,” Delhomme said. “If you are a champion or have been on a championship team, that’s what it’s about. The memories, that’s what it’s about. To be known as a champion.”
SB or Bust for Jake
SB or Bust for Jake
Linear Mode
