Monday marked the first day of this year’s offseason conditioning program, bringing familiar faces back to the team facility in Allen Park.
Safety 
“I was just in great shock,” he said. “There’s pretty much nothing you can do. There’s no point in crying, no point in wanting to go over there or try to save the world because it already happened. All you can do is pray for the people over there and hope for the best.
“My reaction was blank. Pale-faced. I didn’t really know what to say.”
Delmas ultimately had a fundraiser here in Detroit to try and raise money for the people in Haiti. He says the event was successful and he’s looking forward to hosting more just like it.
But all the money in the world can’t replace the unknown when it comes to family members and – up until this point – Delmas has only had contact with his mother.
“My dad and my grandma and my cousin are still unaccounted for,” he said. “(My mom is) telling me that she’s alright, but she’s still trying to get in contact with everyone else over there being that she is there. It’s much easier for her to just go around asking.
“But we still haven’t had contact with them yet. We’re still hoping for the best.”
Aside from having to cope with the devastation of that earthquake, Delmas says he was able to get some mental and physical relaxation in while he was in Miami.
After being there for about three weeks following the conclusion of the regular season, Delmas said he got antsy to start working out again.
“Being a hungry athlete, you just want to get right back into it,” he said. “I’m excited about being up here.”
Entering his second NFL season, this is Delmas’ first full offseason conditioning program and he is looking forward to the benefits that will come from it.
With the same coaching staff and core group of players from a year ago, Delmas sees the team growing and building upon a foundation that was set last season.
“I think this team showed a lot of character, coaching-wise and player-wise,” he said of the 2009 regular season.
“We pulled through for two games. Unfortunately we didn’t win any more after that, but this team showed me one thing: we could become a team and all it takes is practice and all it takes is hard work. As long as we do that, we’ll be very successful this year.”
One thing Delmas showed his coaches, teammates and fans is that he could not only be a good leader on the field, but he could also produce at the safety position.
Delmas finished the year with two interceptions and two touchdowns, showing that his big personality translates to the football field. As he heads into the offseason program, he is looking to build upon the things he did as a rookie.
“What I’m looking to get from myself is to be in the best shape of my life mentally and physically,” he said. “I need to be the smartest player out there on the field on defense and I need to be in the best shape so I can run the defense.
“Team-wise, I’m looking for coming together as one team and trying to bond as quickly as possible so that in mini-camps, OTAs and training camp we don’t have to work on character issues or becoming one. We’ve already been one. Now we’ve got to work on becoming the best team in our conference.”
As far as getting to that place as a team, Delmas thinks the consistency in the front office and in the locker room will help immensely.
“Of course we made a couple of changes, but we have a good group of guys that we can feel comfortable with as far as going into a game and having game experience together,” he said. “Having the same guys around is a smart move and I think it will help us in the long run.”
