The Stoke midfielder always did his best to oblige but decided a line had to be drawn when one PR specialist wrote in and asked if he would throw a Christmas pudding over a double-decker bus.
Legend in the making: Delap's long throws could earn him the status ofStoke hero Neil Franklin
'It was a couple of years ago, and it was all getting a bit mad and crazy,' he said. 'Being in the Potteries, I'd already been asked to throw a china bowl at some target or other, but this one was the funniest of the lot.
'I've no idea where it came from, because I didn't ask. I just thought no, I'm not throwing any Christmas pudding over any double-decker bus.
'I turned it down flat and decided things were going to have to quieten down, because I was getting inundated. It was all people wanted to talk about.'
Ready for launch: Delap prepares for a throw-in
Some hope. Last Saturday morning, Sky's Soccer AM arrived at the moment where supporters of various clubs try to kick a ball through a hole in a board a few yards in front of them.
It was the Stoke fan's turn, and, after sizing up the target, he picked the ball up, put it behind his head and hurled it, Delap-style, right through the middle.
Delap, who was yesterday handed a 12-month extension on his contract, did not see it but roared at the description.
'A couple of the players mentioned the programme and said this lad had been on who looked a bit like me,' he said.
'Apparently, he was pulling his ears out to look even more like me, but I didn't realise he had thrown the ball, instead of kicking it.
'And it went straight through the hole, did it? Brilliant. Good lad! It just shows it's still a big talking point, and probably always will be, but that doesn't bother me.
'Honestly, I see people round the town even now, and they'll nod and pretend to take a throw-in. But that's fine. It's all good fun, and I'm happy to go along with it.'
Delap's prodigious throwing talent has been put to good, if not always honest, effect since his early teens.
'I was good at the javelin at school and could throw it miles,' he said. 'I was always chucking things around in those days. We used to mess around on a golf course. I wasn't very good, so if no-one was looking, I'd throw the ball right down the fairway, and everyone would turn round and say, "Great shot!"
'The first time I realised it could come in handy at football was in a Carlisle United youth game against Liverpool.
Spin the zone: The Stoke man is hoping his long throw will launch the Potters into a Wembley FA Cup final
'It was 2-2 in the last minute when the ball went out of play. 'A mate who knew all about my javelin throwing handed it to me and pointed at one of my teammates, standing near the penalty spot.
'He just said, "Hey, quick, he's unmarked". So I hurled it straight to this lad's forehead, he flicked it past the Liverpool keeper and we won 3-2.
'There were quite a few people there watching the game, and they all just looked at me open-mouthed.
Enlarge?'People seem to think I've just suddenly learned how to throw it long at Stoke, but it became a regular feature of Carlisle youth games and was used in different ways at some of my other clubs.
'At Derby, the emphasis was more on trying to throw the ball in behind defenders for Paulo Wanchope to run on to, and at others it would perhaps just be in the last few minutes if we needed to try to salvage something from a game.
'But when I joined Stoke, the manager, Tony Pulis, made no bones about it and made it clear he knew all about my throw-ins and that he intended to make full use of them.'
Whether Stoke will be able to capitalise fully in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Bolton remains to be seen, given the Wembley pitch is five metres wider and there will be no towels on hand for wiping moisture off the ball.
'Five metres wider? I'd better get on the weights, sharpish,' he said, smiling. 'I'm not always flat out when I throw it into the area, so I should be able to cope with that.
'As for the lack of towels, let's hope for a dry day. If it isn't, I'll be all right, because I'll have a vest on under my shirt and can use that.'
Delap, 34, credited his team-mates for helping make his torpedo such a lethal weapon and also revealed the debt of gratitude he owes Pulis and the board.
'It's one thing being able to throw the ball into the heart of the area, but you need players who are good enough and brave enough for it to work,' he said.
'The likes of Robert Huth, Ryan Shawcross, Ricardo Fuller and Kenwyne Jones, all big, strong, brave lads who don't mind piling into a packed area to get a head on it.
'They have to time their runs just right, but we hardly do any practice. Maybe one or two goes at it on a Friday, when we are going through set-plays, but that's about it.
THROWING LIFELINES 1970 Chelsea were drawing 1-1 with Leeds in the FA Cup final replay until Ian Hutchinson launched a long throw into the box and Dave Webb headed home.
44.6m Andy Legg's world record throw-in, set in 1992 for Swansea City, was held until 1998 when Dave Challinor threw 46.34m. In 2000 he launched Tranmere in to the League Cup final.
51.3m Denmark's Thomas Gronnemark has gone one better than Delap and mastered the 'front-flip' technique. He set a record 51.3m last year. Over to you, Rory . . .
'It has paid dividends, but I so nearlydidn't become a Stoke player. I came here on loan from Sunderland, andit was agreed it would become permanent. But it was just a handshake,nothing more.
'Then on my debut, against Sunderland would you believe, I broke my leg in two places. I would have understood perfectly if they had said, "OK, go back to Sunderland and work on your fitness, and we'll see what happens after that".
'Instead, Tony, the chairman and chief executive came to see me in hospital and said, "We've given you our word, and we are going to keep it". What a lift that gave me. It certainly helped the healing process.
'I hope I have repaid them, and not just with the long throw. I don't think any player would get in a Premier League team just because he can throw the ball a long way.
'David Beckham's delivery from set-pieces was exceptional, but he brought other qualities to that Manchester United team that helped make them so successful.
'I'd like to think I've done a half-decent job with the ball at my feet down the years, but if people want to remember me for my long throw, that's fine. It's better than not being remembered at all.'
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?Explore more:People: Tony Pulis, Ryan Shawcross, David Beckham, Robert Huth Places: Leeds, Liverpool, Denmark
Source: Daily Mail
Source: Daily Mail