"I knew what kind of guy Jake was two months after I got here," Joe Horn, the Saints' star receiver, said this week. "He was a leader. Leaders are born, man.

"I don't care how many classes you take. They can't teach you how to be a leader."

He's right. You can learn Spanish. You can learn how to cook. You can learn good table manners. But you can't learn leadership.

Horn emphasized that he wasn't criticizing Brooks. I'm not here to bash Brooks either. I'm here to bash the man responsible for denying Delhomme a chance to start with the Saints.

Forget about Brooks' chronic fumbling. It was coach Jim Haslett who dropped the ball.