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SPARTANBURG Jake Delhomme's right elbow and forearm hurt when he woke up in the morning, hurt when he brushed his teeth, hurt when he picked up certain things.
He knew it wasn't the kind of soreness that's routine for quarterbacks. He knew it was only a matter of time before something would have to be done to alleviate the pain that he'd been experiencing for more than two years.
Then it happened.
A ligament popped in the elbow in the third game of last season, Sept.23 in Atlanta, when he threw a pass to fullback Brad Hoover.
Surgery was no longer an option. His season was over.
Now, Delhomme is back, saying he feels better than ever.
On Thursday at training camp, two days before he returns to the field in the Panthers' exhibition opener against Indianapolis, he described for the first time details about the most serious injury of his NFL career.
He said the pain started during the 2005 season.
“I just started noticing it during the night,” he said.
Eventually, he was given a cortisone shot, which took care of the problem until after the season was over.
“It was like total relief,” he said.
The arm didn't bother him in the offseason that year, but the pain recurred once he started throwing during the 2006 training camp.
“My forearm started bothering me,” he said. “Then I started getting pain in the back of the elbow. That's when we had a bone spur. Things just kind of went from there.”
The problems persisted in the 2007 training camp, prompting team officials to limit Delhomme's practice repetitions for the second straight year.
He got off to a splendid start last season, with eight touchdown passes and only one interception.
But he wasn't feeling well, especially in the days leading up to the Atlanta game.
“It just didn't feel right,” he said. “I remember vividly talking to my wife on a Friday afternoon. She had to fly back from my grandmother's funeral. She said, ‘How was practice? How's the arm?'
“I said ‘I was miserable this week.' Your body tells you sometimes.”
Delhomme and the Panthers' medical and training staff think he hurt his forearm early in the Atlanta game when a defender was trying to strip the ball from him.
Then, on the pass to Hoover, his ligament popped and, almost immediately he knelt and began holding his arm like it was a wounded wing.
“When it happened, it was a different feeling than I've ever had in my life,” he said. “It was like, ‘OK, something just went.'”
Delhomme's injury was the beginning of a quarterbacking not-so-merry-go-round for the Panthers. First, David Carr replaced him, but a back injury and poor play led the team to sign – and eventually start – veteran Vinny Testaverde. Later, undrafted rookie Matt Moore took over and finished off a disappointing 7-9 season.
Delhomme didn't hesitate to have Tommy John surgery, saying “it couldn't get worse,” and raves about its success.
“I was lucky,” he said. “I had no setbacks. I didn't try to rush it.”
He began throwing on a limited basis before players reported for offseason workouts in March.
“I didn't have to push it because nobody was there,” he said. “So that worked in my favor.”
Delhomme has practiced no more than once a day in this training camp, but is taking more repetitions.
He said while he took half or less of the snaps during seven-on-seven drills the past two years in camp, he's now taking all the snaps.
Delhomme, 33, said he has no idea how much he'll play Saturday against the Colts, but he's eager for the start of the regular season, his 10th in the NFL.
Asked Thursday if his elbow still hurts sometimes, Delhomme smiled.
“No, it doesn't – and I'm not just saying that. It feels great. It really and truly does feel great.”
