Delhomme Conspiracy theory
 

Well we might as well give this theory it's just due and it's own post heading .

Behold the Delhomme Conspiracy theory .

Part 1

saintz08
posted on 3/1/2003 at 14:32

Haslett and McCarthy are married to Brooks .

McCarthy brought him over from Green Bay

Haslett backed him for the big contract .

Loomis , does Loomis hand Brooks the balance of the bonus ?? 6 million , hmmm if Loomis does not pay the additional bonus Brooks only counts 5 million against the cap for 6 years . It does not take too much to see why Haslett has to defend Brooks so hard , Loomis can void the deal ....

If Jake steps in lights it up , why would Loomis cut the check for 6 million ????

Years from now this could easily go down as the 6 million dollar conspiracy . If Jake goes in and wins a game he goes to 5 -1 in games he has appeared in , Benson starts second guessing and a Jake deal could cost less . Joe Johnson admittedly would have taken less to stay in New Orleans , but Mueller fumbled those contractual negotiations .

Something really stinks , why would a Head Coach keep a quarterback in a game who finished the game with a rating of 28 , especially if you were trying to make it into the play offs .

Was Haslett seeing only his commitment to Brooks , when he should have been seeing a committment to win ?? If so then no wonder his players gave out on him , they realized that Brooks was having a bad day and they were going to lose because Haslett was committed to Brooks , not to winning ........

Approximately 3 hours after making the first entry , I finished having a conversation with an actual reporter who was sitting in the room , during the infamous season ending film session at the Saints facility .

Part 2

posted on 3/1/2003 at 17:46

I have gotten the answer .

Rumor had it that a few press agents were invited into camp after the game to review film and ask questions .

I asked one of them the similar question .

Was Haslett seeing only his commitment to Brooks , when he should have been seeing a commitment to win ??

His answer was : " Haslett's commitment is actually to the future of the team. He's not
sure that inserting Delhomme would have been the answer to the
situation".

Now for some reason this is how I read this statement , Haslett is committed to protecting Brooks frail ego at all costs even if that means losing a few games and not getting into the play offs . Haslett is not commited to win now .

Jake Delhomme was never given the chance to win , because it might have started a controversy .

If you read that statement any other way let me know ....

In Support of the Delhomme Conspiracy theory :

Pro Football weekly later writes .

Saints’ Brooks to have arthroscopic surgery on right shoulder

QB Aaron Brooks, whose passing numbers dipped during the Saints' season-ending, three-game losing streak, will undergo arthroscopic surgery on Jan. 17 to reattach a tendon in his right shoulder. Despite the injury, Brooks played instead of backup Jake Delhomme in the season finale vs. Carolina, a game the Saints lost 10-6 to cost them a playoff berth. New Orleans needed to win only one of its last three games to reach the playoffs. The Saints said Brooks' injury did not affect his throwing motion enough to keep him out of the lineup.

PFW: Is the shoulder to blame for the Saints' collapse?

Edholm: I am not buying it. The high and low points of the season for the Saints might have happened in their Sunday night win in Week 13 over the Buccaneers. The win put them, temporarily, in the serious hunt for the NFC South title holding a nice tiebreaker with two wins over Tampa Bay. But Brooks hurt his shoulder in that game, being relieved for a series by Delhomme. Brooks also was replaced the next week by Delhomme (7-of-8 passing for 103 yards), who looked good in the Saints’ win over Baltimore.

But the team stubbornly went back to Brooks down the stretch with three losing teams on its plate — two of the games at home. Brooks completed just 28-of-69 passes in the final two games and lacked his usual zip on the ball. Let’s face it: Brooks was not himself, and either he was lying to the medical staff about how hurt he was or the medical staff was lying to all of us. Be it bravery or ignorance, Brooks let his team down — either by not listening to his body or the team doctors and by not taking himself out of the lineup. Either way, the Saints are out of the playoffs.

Now the Saints must strongly consider re-signing Delhomme, an unrestricted free agent, as insurance in case Brooks can’t recover by minicamp.

With Delhomme playing Sunday for the N.F.C. Championship , does it still seem far fetched ??? ;)

Delhomme Conspiracy theory
 

C\'mon Billy, Saintfan, those are some valid points backed up by third-party statements.

Billy has already admitted that Haslett \"coddled\" Brooks. Are you telling me that didn\'t go so far as to keep him from playing Delhomme when he should have? Let\'s here it.

Do quote Rocky... \"Ding, ding.\"

Delhomme Conspiracy theory
 

Here we go...

I\'m getting a beer and proping my feet up.

Delhomme Conspiracy theory
 

Try scotch, neat, and a lot of \'em. That\'s about where I\'m at BnB. Dang, you see that yat come out in me. \"That\'s where I\'m at\".... ending sentences with prepositions is fun - give it a try BnB... ending sentences with propositions can be fun too. ;)

Delhomme Conspiracy theory
 

Just thought I\'d say, \"Excellent post, \'08.\"

You know what I found ironic about that whole crumby episode of Saints\' history? Until that slide the fans of NO did not really have a problem with AB, granting him a lot of free passes for our first playoff win. Because of the horrible end to that season, AB\'s popularity has never recovered.

In his (in my opinion) stupid attempt to prevent a QB controversy and protect AB\'s ego ( paycheck or whatever), Haslett has irreparably damaged AB\'s image among the fans.

If he had played JD and we had made the playoffs, I do not seriously doubt that AB would still have been our starter. Further, many of the fans would not be so anti-Brooks.

Bad call, Haslett. Very....bad.....call.

Delhomme Conspiracy theory
 

Billy started a thread a while back asking what AB\'s margin for error was. In my opinion, it just got a LOT smaller. So did Haslett\'s. The Saints had better come out in \'04 and make a statement - otherwise it may be the end of the road for both Haslett and Brooks in NO. Fair or not, the pressure those two will feel next year is all the making of Jim Haslett. His decisions got him to where he is now. I, for one, will not feel bad when boiled crawfish come out of the pot cooler than Haslett when he walks out of post-game press conferences.