Jake Delhomme knows better than most about Tom Brady's Super Bowl mystique.
And yet, when the retired quarterback is asked to compare TB12 to the NFL's current megastar, Patrick Mahomes, Delhomme is squarely in the corner of the guy positioned to make history at Super Bowl 59.
"He's just got something about him," Delhomme said Tuesday in an exclusive interview with Covers. "He has that 'it' factor. I think he's a unicorn. I truly believe that."
"I think Tom Brady was awesome, don't get me wrong. He was great. But Mahomes is a different level. To me, he's a different level."
Mahomes leads the Kansas City Chiefs into the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans for a Feb. 9 encounter with the NFC champion, Philadelphia Eagles. Not only does Mahomes have a chance to lead the Chiefs to the first Super Bowl three-peat in NFL history – he would also become the first player ever with four Super Bowl rings and two Most Valuable Player awards before age 30.
Mahomes > Brady?
That, according to Delhomme, is what sets Mahomes apart from everyone – even Brady, who won seven Super Bowl rings in his career.
"Tom, that (New England Patriots team) was awesome," Delhomme told Covers. "They never made mistakes. He played great. But Patrick... the one Super Bowl he lost (a 31-9 setback to Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Super Bowl LV in 2021), he lost because they didn't have an offensive line. They had both starting tackles out. And he had to run all over the place."
"I have such respect for him, just the way he plays. It's never about him. He's very unselfish. He takes all accountability. All accountability. If he makes a bad throw, or an interception, it's his fault. And he always makes up for it."
Delhomme was also deferential to the other big name on the Chiefs roster.
"You watch Travis Kelce, and he had two catches vs. the Bills (in Sunday's AFC Championship Game), but he's blocking, and celebrating, and acting like he caught 30 passes for 300 yards. He wasn't pouting. And that's what makes that team so great."
"You hear people say, 'I'm just tired of them winning.' Well, I hate to sound this way, but I'm not. Because we're watching greatness."
Delhomme credits a similar team unity and chemistry for the success of the 2003 Carolina Panthers, whom he guided from a 1-15 record two years prior to his arrival all the way to a Super Bowl berth in his first year as starter. The Panthers were hefty underdogs to Brady and the New England Patriots, but fought gamely in a 32-29 loss in which Adam Vinatieri kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.
Priceless memories amid a bitter defeat
Delhomme went toe-to-toe with the quarterback widely considered the greatest of all time, and nearly pulled off the upset, throwing for 323 yards and three touchdowns in defeat. Despite the virtuoso performance, Delhomme admits the loss still gnaws at him more than two decades later.
"I don’t think you ever let it go," he told Covers. "I mean, here I am, I’m 50 years old, and leading up to the Super Bowl, one of the stations is going to show a replay of the game. Right? And I’m going to start getting texts from friends and people that were there, and they’ll be like, 'Hey, the game’s on.' And I always ask the same question, 'Does Adam Vinatieri miss the kick at the end?'"
Delhomme went on to say that he still thinks about what he could have done differently to turn the result in the Panthers' favor.
"I think about any and every play in that game, what could I have done better, how could I have done this better or that better," he said. "You go through all those things in your mind, what could I have done to give us that one extra point to try to help us win?"
Yet, despite being on the wrong end of one of the most thrilling Super Bowls this century, Delhomme fondly recalls the build-up to the big game.
"I love (talking about it)," he enthused. "When I go back to the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, memories come back. And they’re great memories. You think of the practices, you think of the locker room, you think of the plane ride. And you think about how everyone’s in the locker room, and everybody has a camcorder. You just want to capture this moment, because you know how special it is. It’s still good feelings, don’t get me wrong."
Eagles can "give the Chiefs fits"
As for this year's edition of the NFL championship, Delhomme said it's tough to bet against the Chiefs – but he isn't ready to crown them quite yet.
"Listen, it’s hard to ever pick against Mahomes, right?" he told Covers. "(But) I just think (the Eagles) can give the Chiefs fits with their run game. It’s a different run game from when they played a couple of years ago (a 38-35 Chiefs win at Super Bowl 57). That’s just my opinion. Saquon Barkley, he’s just different. This guy is just on a different level."
"But it’s going to be a close game. The Chiefs haven’t won a game this year at all where they’ve destroyed somebody. Everything’s close. And I believe Washington was a team that was running out of steam, and they had a ton of fumbles. This one… I’d never go against Mahomes, but right now, in the back of my mind, it’s like, “how are they gonna stop Saquon Barkley?"
Aside from Barkley dominating on the ground, Delhomme identified one other key to a potential Philadelphia victory.
"They can’t turn the ball over, they have to play sound football," Delhomme said. "And you don’t want to get into this passing type of game. Just stay ahead of the mistakes, so (Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve) Spagnuolo can’t come up with exotic pressures and things that he’s great at in crucial times."
Louisiana proud
No matter the outcome, fans in attendance will be ready to party – and with good reason, as the Super Bowl returns to New Orleans for a record-tying 11th time. And that means a particularly special two-week stretch for Delhomme, who is as Louisianan as an NFL player gets.
Delhomme is from Breaux Bridge, located 125 miles west of New Orleans, and played collegiate football at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), where he left as the school's all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns. He even broke into the NFL with the hometown Saints, signing as an undrafted free agent and spending parts of five seasons on the roster (with a stint in NFL Europe in between).
The bias might be strong, but Delhomme can't imagine a better place than the Big Easy to host the biggest game on the NFL calendar.
"You think about Mardi Gras, and the passion and the music and the food and the culture, and when you combine the love that people in Louisiana have for football, and especially New Orleans... it's a way of life," Delhomme told Covers. "New Orleans does a great job. It knows how to throw a party. And it's so easy to get around downtown New Orleans, everything is so centrally located. It's just a vibe all week long."
"I've been to Super Bowls in many different areas, and it's just different. It's so spread out. With New Orleans, and everything being so condensed, it's just awesome."
