Bears Blitz

Published by David O'Meara on January 25, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Let me say first that I’ve always kind of hated Cutler.

Whether it’s the lethargic, care-free, disinterested, casual body language on the field or his uptight, overly-protective, impersonal, cold and apparently rude demeanor in press conferences and interviews, there are plenty of reasons not to like him.

Pam Oliver here talks about her interview with Cutler, highlighting these traits.

Then there was the debacle with Josh McDaniels, where it appeared he cried his way out of Denver. I think enough has been said about that already so I won’t go into it.

It was easy for me to conclude that this guy was a cocky, smug, narcissistic asshole with no regard for other people. Living in Chicago last summer, I took daily shots at Cutler whenever Bears fans tried to be arrogant about their “Franchise Quarterback.”

He’s an easy target for sports-hate and there’s plenty to dislike about him, even though he’s not necessarily a bad person; he’s not like Ben Roethlisberger or Michael Vick.

Chris Murphy does an excellent job discussing this point here.

So, I guess you’re thinking that I’m pretty thrilled about the nationwide Cutler-bashing.

Well, not exactly.

I was shocked by all the tweets and articles questioning his toughness.

Jay Cutler is a lot of things, but he’s not soft.

I was especially shocked by some of the Bears fans’ reactions. You’ve seen him play all year, you’ve seen the hits he’s been taking—how can question his toughness? The guy was sacked 52 times in 15 games and who knows how many hits he took.

No complaining, no limping, no Favre-like drama. It’s a miracle he missed only one game.

Taking Cutler out of the game was the correct decision. It was clear he couldn’t plant or move around in the pocket. The team was better off with a 100 percent Todd Collins than a less-than-50-percent Cutler.

Cutler was already playing pretty badly. Had Cutler stayed in the game, he essentially would have been a statue in the pocket. Cutler is usually quite mobile and still takes a ton of sacks—imagine the hits he’d take without the mobility.

His throwing ability would also have been severely limited. I actually think it would have been quite selfish of Cutler to stay in the game (if the decision was his) and it would have hurt the team.

The thing that really annoys me about the criticism he’s getting is that it’s clearly about more than the injury. It’s as if all the writers and fans had been saving up all their shots on Cutler for the right opportunity, which happens to be now.

If this was any other player, we would not be criticising him nearly as much, but because it’s Cutler, who everybody sports-hates, everyone has done away with objectivism and are mercilessly ripping him.

I’m trying my best not to repeat what has already been said on this website, so I don’t want to go into too much detail here.

A lot of people take issue with the fact that he apparently didn’t try hard enough to get back into the game. What I would say to those people is that you don’t know what happened at halftime or off-camera so it’s completely unfair to speculate that he left the game without putting up a fight.

You don’t know the level of pain he was in or what the medical staff told him. Maybe he should have put on a show for cameras, arguing with the coaches or limping just to let everyone know he was in agony.

Brett Favre might have done that, but that’s not the kind of guy that Cutler is.

A funny thing has happened since Sunday. Maybe I was ignorant in the past or maybe I’m a contrarian who likes taking a minority viewpoint, but my impression of Jay Cutler has completely changed this week.

In particular, I’ve sympathised with him about the non-stop bashing he receives from fans about his character.

As I mentioned earlier, up to last week I regarded him as an absolute dick. But thinking about it, I’ve started to consider that we fans read too much into a player’s body language and demeanour.

I get that he should lift that head up more because he’s the leader of the team and all, but what does body language have to do with heart or love for the game?

I’ve heard from people all week that Cutler looks depressed on the sideline and therefore clearly does not love the game.

What a load of crap.

I also don’t buy that he’s disinterested or doesn’t care about his team. I know he looks that way, but that doesn’t necessarily means he feels that way.

I’ve also thought about his impersonal and cold nature. I think that that’s just who he is and it’s unfair to criticise him having an introverted personality. I don’t think he’s intentionally rude or is as narcissistic, smug and arrogant as some people believe.

I think he gets much more criticism than he deserves and his personality has been dissected to pieces by tabloids like the Chicago Sun-Times.

I never thought I’d ever find myself in the position of defending Jay Cutler, but here I am. In fact, I think I kind of like the guy and I hope he wins a Super Bowl and silences his critics.

He certainly has the talent to do so. I think people need to remind themselves that the Bears would not even be in the playoffs if Jay Cutler wasn’t there.

Every player deserves criticism, but if I were in Chicago, I would be appreciative of the fact that you have a young talented QB to build around for the future.

If you don’t want him in Chicago, this Seahawks fan will gladly take him off your hands.

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