Bears Blitz

Published by Mike MacConnell on January 24, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that I wasted very little time to jump on Chicago Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler, after it appeared that he quit on his team after a half-hearted attempt to play in the second half.

After all, he didn’t look that hurt, and even if he was, he should have played as long as he could still stand on his own two feet.

What made Cutler an easy target for so many was the fact that he’s always been seen as standoff-ish and aloof. He has that type of personality that makes him easy to hate in the court of public opinion.

What makes me uneasy is the fact that so many of us—fans, media and players—were so quick to crucify him before even hearing him out. Sure, he didn’t pass the eye test, but is that really all it takes to mount an onslaught of this magnitude?

Before we ruin Jay Cutler’s career and maybe his life, here are some things we really need to consider first.

His Personality:

Ever since he broke into the NFL in 2006, Cutler has been labeled as a sort of prima donna. The first thing critics will point to is the way he played the role of resident drama queen when he wasn’t happy with Josh McDaniels in Denver. He also got into childish pissing matches with the Chargers’ Phillip Rivers.

To say his psyche is seen as fragile would be putting it nicely. On top of that, he just seems not to care about much; he doesn’t show the type of emotion that seems to be synonymous with greatness.

So, Jay Cutler lacks some of the social skills fans like to see in a professional athlete. So what? That’s just who he is.

Yeah, he didn’t start throwing water bottles and getting into the trainers’ faces like Brett Favre might have done. Yeah, he didn’t get in the faces of his offensive line and call out his receivers like I’ve seen Tom Brady and Peyton Manning do.

For some reason, that’s the type of reaction that we’ve come to expect. But when players show too much fire on the sidelines, we condemn them for setting bad examples for our children.

Whether or not you and I like Jay Cutler’s personality and antics, that’s just who he is. It’s really not fair to demand that he change himself under the threat that we’ll burn his jersey.

The Eye Test:

“But,” you say, “he was walking on the sidelines!” Yes, he was.

We love stories where our heroes drag themselves onto the field and lead some heroic comeback. Look at Kirk Gibson answering the bell on two bad knees to hit a game-winning home run off Dennis Eckersley. Then there is Michael Jordan who scored 38 points with the flu to lift the Bulls past the Jazz in the fifth game of the 1997 NBA Finals.

The mentality is, “If you’re still able to breathe, you’re still able to play.”

Could Cutler have physically gotten on the field and thrown the ball? Probably. As fans, that’s what we expect. After all, they are making millions of dollars.

The simple observation that Jay Cutler was able to walk around and ride a bike does not mean that he wasn’t hurt or injured. Sure, his knee probably wasn’t shredded to pieces, but looking at him on TV does not indicate the presence of an injury—or lack thereof.

If  that is what we are using to rip this guy to shreds, it speaks more about our character than his.

The Medical Staff:

According to all accounts, the medical staff did not clear him to play. That was their decision, not his.

Yeah, he didn’t seem to put up much of a fight. That brings us back to his personality. Would Bears fans cut him some slack because he at least made a scene displaying his displeasure with the situation? Maybe, but what would that have changed in the game? Nothing. They still weren’t letting him play.

Yeah, someone like Tom Brady or Brett Favre or Ben Roethlsberger could have brushed off the medical staff. Cutler is not Favre, Brady, or Manning. He wouldn’t have been allowed to pull that type of stunt anyway.

The Injury:

By the way, it has been confirmed that Cutler has a sprained MCL. Enough said.

The Players:

Yes, former and current players took to Twitter and ripped Cutler a new one. This fact was the one thing that I pointed to in my defense of my own Cutler-trashing.

After all, these are guys that have been in the league, guys that have played hurt and injured, guys that play the same game he does every week, guys who have risked their health too.

THOSE are the guys calling him out. If they are, I can too. Right?

However, the players who see him in practice every day, the guys who have first-hand knowledge of his toughness, the guys who have been there to pick him up and watch him take beatings for them each and every week, his teammates, THOSE guys, to a man, have gone out of their way to stand up for their quarterback.

If his own teammates honestly felt Jay Cutler quit on them, don’t you think now would be a great time for someone to let him know how they felt about it? No one has, not in that locker room. That has to count for something.

The Bottom Line:

It’s a moot point to argue whether or not we think Jay Cutler could have or should have played. The fact is, he didn’t. The coaching staff and medical personnel made a decision to keep him out of the game. On top of that, his teammates support him.

Even though the MRI shows only a sprain as opposed to a tear to his knee, we are not in a position to say whether or not he should have tried harder to play. The Bears and Cutler had to protect themselves in the long-term. Jay is still young. What if he would have gone out there and made things worse? We could be talking about a career-ending injury then.

Through this all, fans got what they asked for, some emotion from Jay Cutler. He cried when informed that players—his peers—questioned his toughness.

Call him a baby if you want. To me, it just shows that he’s a human being. And a human being deserves better than the crap he’s had to read and listen to during the last 24 hours.

Are we really willing to make this guy’s life a living hell over a game? I hope not.

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