Aaron Brooks

This is from the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. What an idiot!

MIXED SIGNALS
Brooks, Delhomme meet again, this time in a showdown that will have some Saints fans rooting for both quarterbacks

Thursday, December 30, 2004

By Jeff Duncan
Staff writer

Four years ago, Aaron Brooks beat out Jeff Blake and Jake Delhomme for the Saints' starting quarterback job.

He won the position, but he didn't win the hearts of fans.

Brooks understands all too well the dilemma many Saints fans will face in the showdown between New Orleans and the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. Many will be rooting for the Saints to win the game while simultaneously hoping Delhomme, now the Panthers' starter, outplays Brooks.

Such is life for Brooks, who, despite being the only quarterback in club history to pass for more than 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in four consecutive seasons, has learned to live with the rancor and resentment from a large segment of the local populace since the Saints allowed Delhomme to sign a free-agent contract with the NFC South rivals in March 2003.

"Any time you're playing Jake, the New Orleans fan base, they're going to obviously root for their hometown kid," Brooks said of the Breaux Bridge native. "What's important is for me to just try to have a good game and don't buy into all that."

In addition to his impressive numbers, Brooks has quarterbacked the Saints to the only playoff win and just the second division title in club history. He's led the team to three road upsets of the St. Louis Rams in five seasons.

But perhaps no game is more important for the six-year veteran than Sunday's showdown. Because of the stakes (a potential NFC wild-card spot) and the presence of Delhomme, his former backup, the game figures to be a seminal moment in his five-year Saints tenure.

"I think it's huge for this football team, and it's definitely huge for this organization because of the history of the past several years," Brooks said.

Huge for himself? He wouldn't go that far.

"No, I think it's a great opportunity for me and this football team," he said. "I've played a lot of big games. You want to talk about big games, talk about when we were 4-8 and we were trying to get that fifth win."

Still, the sub-plot between the quarterbacks will be the dominant storyline this week. It's similar to the one Brooks faces each time he plays NFC South rival the Atlanta Falcons and Michael Vick, his second cousin from the same Newport News, Va., neighborhood.

Brooks' teams have yet to win a game quarterbacked by Vick or Delhomme. He's 0-3 against each.

"There is no comparison to Jake and I," Brooks said. "Jake had his opportunity for numerous years here in New Orleans and couldn't capitalize on it. I came and got the job, and he had to move on. He's done a great job where he's at."

And yet the debate ages, after all the games and years.

Brooks' supporters claim Delhomme has benefited from playing with a dominant defense and powerful running game and point to Brooks' superior statistics.

Delhomme's supporters say his value can't be measured in numbers and passer efficiency formulas. The only figures that matter, they say, are wins and losses.

"Jake is a great guy, a good quarterback," Brooks said. "He's on a team that plays well together. I'm the exact opposite. I'm a great quarterback, and I'm on a team that's kind of struggling and been very inconsistent a lot of the time. I've been able to do some great things. There's no comparison. He's just a good friend of mine. I would never try to make this into a him-versus-me type deal."

Those that know Brooks well, though, say the quarterback is disguising his feelings.

"This is on the same level as Atlanta and him (Brooks) and (Michael) Vick," said tight end Lamont Hall, Brooks' closest friend on the roster. "Jake was his backup. Now he's starting at Carolina. He hasn't beaten Jake. He might not express it himself, but it's a personal thing. . . . I think it needs to be personal."

While Delhomme enters the game playing some of the best football of his career, Brooks' play has been steady if unspectacular this season. During the Saints' three-game winning streak, he has completed 57.8 percent of his passes for an average of 216 yards a game. In that time, he has thrown four touchdown passes and four interceptions.

More importantly, Brooks has shown a proclivity to run. In the three-game winning streak, Brooks has run 13 times for 47 yards. His inclination to tuck the ball and run is a good sign for the Saints. New Orleans is 4-0 this season and 18-6 overall when he carries the ball five or more times.

"(Aaron) needs to just go out and do what he's supposed to do and everything will be fine," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "He can't worry about what somebody else is supposed to do."

When asked if he was worried that Brooks might put too much pressure on himself to outduel Delhomme, Haslett said, "I don't think so. It's just another game. Obviously, it's a competitive situation. It's the same thing when he plays Michael Vick or any other good quarterback. There's a rivalry and a challenge there. This is nothing different."

Hall, though, thinks otherwise.

"He might tell (the media) it's not personal," Hall said. "He might tell me it's not personal. But it's personal."

 

i wish he and haslett would both hit the road. if there's a god...

 

Did he just tell his teammates that they suck and they are keeping him down?

I think he did.

Damn.

 

more of a combination of being brutally honest and being extremely arrogant.

 

That's the way I read it. Jake is a decent qb on a good team. Brooks is a great qb on a suck ass team. Hell, I hope the Panthers have this posted in the Saints locker room when they arrive at BOA.

 

I could see it how it could motivate the saints. Usually, the QBs blame themselves even when things aren’t their faults. I’d love for Harrington to call out players like that. His receivers are again among the leaders in drops. Instead, he blames himself and gives his teammates a pass.

 

We just need to win.

 

what a leader - and he called himself great. Glad he knows.

 

"You fight great, but I'm a great fighter." -Apollo Creed



and he still ain't beat Rocky

 

Nope, Apollo lost, but I'm pretty sure Muhammed Ali said he is the greatest, and he pretty much is.