Bears Blitz

Published by KFFL on April 21, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

(Originally published Apr. 10, 2009)

I did not want to shorten this blog, as I felt I had a lot to talk about, so I broke it into two parts to make it easier for the KFFL editors (a bunch of babies! I’m just kidding). That staff makes me look good too many times that I can’t thank them enough!

If you missed Part I, please go back and read that first before reading Part II! Let’s continue my take on the Orton-Cutler saga, the fallout, the positives and the negatives.

What does Orton bring to the table?

• Orton is 21-12 as a starter and is also 15-2 at home, which is the best in the NFL since he came into the league in 2005. You don’t hear this number at all; all you hear is how great Cutler is when the team has a lead. Yes, it’s not all Orton, but it’s also not all Cutler when it comes to winning records. The NFL is the consummate team sport. It’s funny how we forget that when it’s convenient!
• Orton is also playing for a contract as he’s wrapping up a one-year extension this year. I like quarterbacks in contract years!

System Quarterback

Many involved in the industry, including insiders and reporters, claim Orton is a system quarterback, but that is wrong. What is that based on? His tenure in a vanilla Chicago offense? I don’t buy it. Are we saying that Tom Brady and Matt Cassel are system quarterbacks?

Isn’t the West Coast offense a system built specifically for quarterbacks? Based on that belief, wouldn’t logic dictate Cutler is a system quarterback? It would, but we know that’s not true; he can create his own magic as well as his own disasters!

I don’t agree with the system quarterback comments. I think Orton played within the framework of what the team wants and, in his case, specifically not to deviate from it, thus all the checkdowns to running back Matt Forte last year.

The Future

• Head coach Josh McDaniels: Orton now has an opportunity to learn from someone who helped make Brady one of the greatest winners in NFL history. Someone who turned Matt Cassel from a backup into an NFL quarterback who is going to earn $14 million-plus for one year of play!
• Orton’s Surrounding Cast: Orton has the following receivers to throw to: Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall and the up-and-coming Eddie Royal. Add a sure-handed tight end in Tony Scheffler, along with receiving running backs J.J. Arrington, LaMont Jordan and even Correll Buckhalter, and he has a stable of quality receivers and backs that can catch.
• Cutler’s Surrounding Cast: Cutler has Devin Hester, Rashied Davis, Earl Bennett (a former teammate at Vanderbilt) and tight ends Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen. He also has running back Matt Forte. I think Orton wound up with the better receiving corps, but Cutler will improve his receivers to a certain extent – don’t undersell Bennett as he knows Cutler and his tendencies!
• Pressure: Will Cutler be able to handle the pressure if he plays in Chicago like he did in the second half of last year with game-changing interceptions? I think Bears fans are much more savage in their treatment of players than Broncos fans.

Sorry Denver, just an observation in my 34 years of watching football and traveling the world. Cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia and New York still have the most hardcore fans I’ve ever encountered. Let’s toss Cleveland in there because IMHO they have the most hardcore fans!

Leadership

• Orton in a Chicago Sun-Times article: “Leadership doesn’t come overnight,” Orton, true to his character, said after arriving in Denver. “I plan to put my head down and go to work and show the guys what my work ethic is.”
• He also stated, “It’s all I’ve ever wanted,” he said.” It’s all I ever asked for in college [at Purdue] or here. As long as I have a fair chance, I can deal with whatever the coach decides.”

I love that about the guy because no one is born with leadership abilities, and most champions or successful individuals will tell you all they ever wanted was an opportunity!

I believe you have to experience and work with great leaders to understand it! I have seen men who you look at in awe because of their abilities to have gained your complete trust, loyalty and belief failure will not happen, nor is it an option.

It’s magical, it brings hope, it gives you the confidence you need to play your role, and it’s rare! I was fortunate to see this in action…more than once! When everything hits the fan, you see leaders emerge.

• In the NFL, I would say Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis epitomizes what a leader is! In fact, arguably, he’s the league’s greatest leader over the last 10 years! I watch him play, and when I look at him I see opponents fear him – and players rising to the occasion to play with him! I see Tom Brady in this mold as well as past champions such as Joe Montana!

Leadership is an intangible measure. To be frank, I don’t believe most who are writing on Cutler have experienced it! Thus their takes have flaws to an extent because they don’t fully understand its importance because it’s not a statistic. I’m not saying they’re wrong, just that they’re missing an important aspect of life that’s needed to succeed.

You learn to become a manager, and then you learn to become a leader. They are different but go hand-in-hand. Our personalities will dictate how successful we are as leaders, but in the end you can become a great leader by continually working on it, recognizing what a leader is and following through.

I believe this is what Cutler is lacking. He may get it eventually, but he doesn’t have it yet! Orton is much more along the leadership cycle.

At times we forget—when we’re dazzled by talent and potential—the NFL is the consummate team sport! Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman are two leaders who have seven Super Bowls between them.

I’ll take those two over Brett Favre, Dan Fouts and Dan Marino any day of the week. Those three are viewed by many as three of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

• Three great Hall of Fame (Hall of Fame-to-be for Favre) quarterbacks with one ring between them!

Orton has worked with, adapted to and learned from various offensive coordinators and will do the same in McDaniels’ system. He’s the perfect candidate to come in, learn the system and run it how the coach wants it run. He understands his role and has the talent—and potentially, the leadership ability to succeed.

He has spent his professional career always looking over his shoulder, and anyone who knows football will tell you when that’s the case a quarterback can struggle. Orton overcame that to become the team’s starter over Rex Grossman.

The perceptionsurrounding Orton is wrong! Orton’s proven himself a winner in the win-loss record as well as life after overcoming the adversity he faced to be the Chicago Bears quarterback.

Some final thoughts on Cutler in an article by Teddy Covers:

• He never won in college.
• He has yet to win in the NFL.
• He was part of the Broncos’ collapse the last two years.
• He has great arm strength, but so did Jeff George, David Carr, and Joey Harrington. I love that one!
• He currently does not have the intangibles of a Philip Rivers or Drew Brees. He’s not a natural born winner.

I view that final bullet point in the same vein as the fact he still needs to learn how to be and to develop into a leader. If he does that then he’ll start winning.

His Win-loss records as a player:

• Heritage Hills High School: 26-1.
• Vanderbilt University, 11-35.
• Denver Broncos: 17-20 as a starter.

I found it humorous that his Wikipedia page listed his high school record but made no mention of his Vanderbilt record! Things that make you go “hmmm!”

For the record, anyone who states Cutler’s win-loss record since high school doesn’t matter may not be an idiot but is awful naive for dismissing it! Sure there are many factors in determining a win-loss record and it’s not the all inclusive answer in determining someone’s potential and long-term success.

However, it does tell us some things. It tells us about leadership, and confidence or cockiness does not make a leader. When you research Cutler you discover a lot about that but not much on his leadership ability.

I wonder if Cutler had been a better leader instead of an arrogant cocky player, would Vanderbilt have had a few more wins than they did?

Leadership Defined

• Leader: a person who rules or guides or inspires others
• Theories of leadership: Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person is able to enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task” [1].
• “A simple definition of leadership is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. Put even more simply, the leader is the inspiration and director of the action. He or she is the person in the group that possesses the combination of personality and skills that makes others want to follow his or her direction.”
• “Anyone can learn to manage; it’s a matter of looking at a piece of paper and moving your resources and manpower to fulfill objectives. However, a leader is someone who is able to get his staff to go to war without asking! Anyone can learn to manage but not everyone can learn to lead!” – William Del Pilar – Hey, did you think I would not toss in my own two cents?

Time will tell us who the winner of this trade is, and I’m not saying Orton will succeed or Cutler will fail. I just don’t agree with those who are laughing at Orton as an inferior quarterback when he came from a culture and regime that has never been able to develop a quarterback as long as I’ve been living on this earth!

Cutler should be successful and has the potential to go down as a great quarterback, but he won’t fulfill his potential until he shows maturity and the ability to lead.