Odd quote from Steve Smith to Jake Delhomme

In a segment from the Week One game between Philadelphia and Carolina, during which Panthers receiver Steve Smith was wearing a microphone, a bizarre exchange unfolded between Smith and quarterback Jake Delhomme, who coughed up five turnovers in a 38-10 drubbing.

Delhomme, whose confidence clearly is shattered, apologizes to Smith while the duo are sitting on the bench.

Says Smith:  “I never really liked you as a quarterback.  But as a person . . . I love you as a person.”

Here’s the video.

Hey, it could have been worse.  After all, Smith could have simply sucker punched Delhomme.

Still, it’s a bizarre comment for Smith to make, and the fact that Delhomme just takes it all in stride makes us wonder whether he will ever be able to get back whatever it was that he lost during the 2008 playoff game against the Cardinals.

50 responses to “Odd quote from Steve Smith to Jake Delhomme

  1. It may be just me, but I’m pretty sure he was joking around with Delhomme to try and loosen him up a bit. I mean the whole bit about him not being a handsome guy. Doesn’t that kind of lead to that kind of thinking (that he was trying to loosen him up) rather than him actually being serious?

  2. It seemed to me like he was joking, Mike. Trying to get Delhomme’s mind off of the errors he was making. Right before that Smith says, “I know you feel like crap, you’re not a very handsome guy anyway”. Steve Smith is just trying to be there for his teammate and possibly, very good friend(I have no idea if Smith and Delhomme have any sort of friendship, but that’s something one good friend would say to another).
    Seemed like a pretty innocuous statement on Smith’s part to me.

  3. Seriously? It’s not a bizarre quote. It’s called a joke. You know, humor to help the guy who was clearly down. Before his “bizarre quote”, he called him ugly. Sounds like a guy who’s serious….
    Way to report the “news”.

  4. FLORIO!! Where you at dude? You’re usually pretty good at this stuff…. Smith was OBVIOUSLY just kidding. You can tell in the way he said it, and then Delhomme even looked like he chuckled a little bit after he said the QB comment. In my opinion, Smith handled that perfectly. His QB was shaken up so he tried to lighten the mood a little bit. Tried to take some of the pressure/stress off delhomme.

  5. You know what this means, look for some articles tomorrow stating that the GM of the team has fined Steve Smith for team distractions as well as the NFL fining Smith for conduct detrimental to the league. More PFT stories coming up!

  6. wow i feel bad for him he seem’s like a nice guy lol he needs to get his groove back if he ever had one smith was being kind of a dick rubbing it in

  7. Come on… He also told him he wasn’t very handsome… He was messin with him to try to get his mind going a different direction. This is a standard people skill. Trying to make something of this is just flat-out-STUPID! Jake knew what SS was doing, I know what SS was doing, just about every male who ever had a buddy/teammate knows what he was doing… You rip on your pals when they are down to maybe get a smile back on their face, or get them to give you a FU*& OFF! When will the media understand that athletes are actual living breathing humans, just like us??? (with more $$, of course) Nothing odd or confusing here, unless you live in a basement, on the internet, I guess…

  8. Seriously? Is it not obvious he was joking? He was screwing around with him trying to make him feel better. He made the “not that hansom” wise-crack first.

  9. In the Arizona game, a soundbite was him telling Delhomme, after turnover #4 or so, “you’re still my quarterback.”. And Jake threw to him for the triple crown in ’05, so he was probably trying to diffuse the situation/tention by making a joke.

  10. Florio you’re an idiot. He’s clearly joking with him in a dry way. He starts by telling him he’s not very good looking – do you think he is serious about that as well? The relationship between the two is obviously a good friendship that would require ball busting after throwing multiple INT’s. Granted it’s the pros, but any man who has a good friend knows what is happening between these two, and the fact that it has gone completely over your head is frightening. You owe Smith an apology for being so out of touch about guy interaction.

  11. you’re clearly making something out of nothing mike. anybody can tell he was totally joking with delhomme… you must have something better to write about. don’t you.

  12. That was a funny ass video. The two were obviously joking with each other when smith told him he was never very handsome Jake was like yeah I know. They were all touching up on each other. I say its all good in the hood just don’t throw that many picks EVER again. Thats what S.S was thinking

  13. ummmmm…r u kidding me. you rip into people for misinterpreting things all the time, yet you think Steve Smith was serious here? Wow, bad miss florio

  14. I think it’s pretty obvious that he was just bussin his balls…..knowing he had the mic on. Some of u kill me when u take things like this and blow them wayyy out of context. IT WAS A FU%^ING JOKE!!

  15. because of Jim Rome, I have bought a steve smith jersey. After this, I will defecate on it tonight, dryclean it tomorrow, and gift it to the next person who praises him/carolina.
    WHAT AN ASSHOLE! You apologists can say he was joking, but a lot of truth(and true feelings) is said in jest. He is a horrible teammate.
    Hope his butt hole is puckered up because that dude deserves… nevermind. I don’t need to stoop to his level.

  16. Florio this is the worst exaggeration to date for you. I mean its simply ridicolous. I didnt even watch the link you posted because there is no need to.
    I seen it earlier today and it was Steve Smith trying to bring some levity to the sitution. Jake felt bad and was saying he was sorry for the pop fly he threw that was intercepted by Asante Samuel. Steve Smith being a good teammate was trying to show support and make him relax and . First he said to the guy he wasnt handsome and then said he didnt like him as a performer as a quarterback. Now anybody that played organized football or any sports in general know thats how men joke with each other. Jake and any normal blue collar guy knows what Steve Smith was doing there. Smith knew Delhomme was dissappointed in him self and was second guessing him self so instead of just saying its ok he joked about what Delhomme was thinking to let him know dont get down on yourself I want you here. Afterwards Smith put his hand on Jake’s knee when I seen it orginally I thought it was great and Smith is a great teammate for going over and trying to make Jake feel better.
    Lets say if I mess up laying out framing for building a house at work and Im upset with myself for it b/c I should know better and one of my co-workers came up to me like Smith did to Delhomme in that same tone and said something like “I like you and all your a good guy but your no builder” Id shake my head laugh and be like ya I know.
    The way Smith went over there and handled the sitution and his tone proves to the common man what he was trying to do. He didnt go over there to belittle Jake b/c if he did u would know it would look nothing like that.
    If any of you dont get it thats sad because if you have true male friends or teammates you would know thats common place in the way we talk to each other. And none of its to put each other down its completly the opposite.

  17. Well we all know why Florio is the way he is now. He apparently had no male friends when he was growing up. He got picked on or ignored by the guys that were busting each others balls to make each other laugh. So now he is sarcastic and condesending to others to get back at all the people that didnt want to be his friend. He became a lawyer to sue and lock up the people that werent nice to him. Then out of the ultimate Revenge of the Nerds plot he started a website so he could bash the most popular kids from highschool THE FOOTBALL STARS. So now every waking hour of his life, except for the time he spends with his only friends from highschool the fat girls, he looks through the internet looking for stories or videos of these “Jocks” getting arrested, sued, or saying crazy things so he can post it on his site. So he can prove to the world that they arent the perfect ones he is. And when he cant find anything he just makes it up. He’ll find something harmless and use his superduper lawyer power’s of SPIN and try to change it something HORRIBLE.
    Ok this may be exaggerated but I did learn from the master. Czar Florio.

  18. Florio I am really disappointed. You either are stirring up something out of nothing (which really surprises me) or you didn’t take the time to listen to the video (which also surprises me).
    This is an obvious joke, with Smith trying to cheer up Delhomme. The completely out of context and very small section that you chose to post makes this look like a major controversy.
    I hope everyone listens to the actual video and that you edit this story.

  19. Have you clowns considered….
    Maybe Florio is breaking YOUR balls?
    Smith knew he was on mic, so he was being a funny guy, but he should stick to football. He ain’t too funny.

  20. VernonK says:
    September 16, 2009 11:44 PM
    ‘It may be just me, but I’m pretty sure he was joking around with Delhomme to try and loosen him up a bit. I mean the whole bit about him not being a handsome guy. Doesn’t that kind of lead to that kind of thinking (that he was trying to loosen him up) rather than him actually being serious”
    i feel the same way Vernon, i don’t think there was much to it…i’m not a panthers fan but i don’t there is any hard feelings between steve and jake

  21. I don’t understand your point in the final sentence. The fact that he took the comment in stride is somehow indicative of what he lost in the Arizona game? How so, would the “old Jake” have suddenly engaged in fisticuffs with Smith?
    Oh, and btw, Mr. Florio, forget my compliments on Sunday regarding your excellent choice of Panthers-Eagles as game of the week. Talk about a jinx; that will be the next big sports “curse”, the honor of PFT game of the week. It has caused seven turnovers and a broken rib so far.

  22. seemed like joking around, but without laughing
    maybe it really is a coping mechanism steve learned in anger management

  23. With all these comments that are overwhelmingly in agreement that Florio missed (intentionally or not) the mark on this one, what are the chances that he actually reads the comments, and further, does the right thing and correct his “mistake”?

  24. What BS. It’s clearly a joke. Why don’t you go back to chasing ambulances with a car full of neck braces?

  25. At first look, I agreed with Florio, thinking “man, that’s not how you build up your teamate’s confidence”. After watching it again and thinking about it, yeah, I’d agree that Smith was joking.

  26. The thing is, Delhomme has always been a terrible QB or if you want to be nice, marginal at best. He always throws into double and triple coverage and for most of his career Steve Smith has defied logic and been able to make the play because he is incredible. He rode Steve Smith’s magic, an amazing running game and brilliant defense to a super bowl and an NFC championship game, but he is horrible. Maybe Steve Smith is serious with his final statement. The first part does seem like a joke, but I do think he is telling the truth through the guise of a joke when he says he doesn’t like him as a QB. How could he? He constantly puts Steve Smith in a position to get injured with poorly thrown balls into triple coverage. I’m sure Smith is looking across the division at Brees and Ryan and saying, “I’m tired of sacrificing my body for this guy”. The fact that Smith has bailed him out so many times has actually allowed him to regress because he knows Steve will bail him out. This regression and I’m sure Steve Smith’s own dissatisfaction and self preservation have lead to his back-to-back turnover festivals.

  27. Mike, I’m Brazilian, so english is not my first lenguage and even I realised he was joking…
    You don’t need these cheap sensationalism… come on

  28. I can see I could probably insult all of you too and you wouldn’t even realize it …
    Yes, he was speaking in humorous tones, but the “shot” was clearly in there. It’s kind of like joking about how much weight your wife put on. She’s not going to chuckle it up like most of you.
    It was clearly a chance for Steve Smith to hit a subtle shot at Delhomme during his moment of weakness. If you’re joking with someone to motivate him like that, then he would’ve said something like I think you’re ugly, and I don’t like you as a person, but you are a damn good quarterback and you’ll be back. Instead he said, well it looks like you’re going to be replaced which I’m very happy about, but we’ll still be friends afterwards.
    Read between the lines folks.

  29. @ Route36West says:
    Yes, exactly! Well said.
    People like Vox Veritas and redsquare get away with crossing the line on every Eagles post, and randomly people get banned. But never them.
    Ban everyone who crosses the line, or noone.

  30. Smith has never been identified as being a jokester by any of his teammates or having the least bit of a sense of humor with anybody. Even in commercials he comes across as a “street thug” with the blank expression of a schizo. Look at the high profile fights he has with other team members even disfiguring the face of one of them. Its well known he’s been on anti-depressants for years to control his anti-social outbursts. I admire the ability of Jake to hold together this group of oddballs most who clearly can’t catch a ball with any consistency. Without Jake they went nowhere. Shortly Muhammed will probably accuse somebody of being a racist, like he did with Kerry Collins, and we can write the rest of the season off. You don’t wonder if something is a joke. If it was a clearly a joke, even, taken out of context, there would be no discussion. Instead it’s a case of Jake bearing the load for this group of no-talent bums.

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