Did Brian Urlacher Really Rip Jay Cutler?

It seems Brian Urlacher usually winds up in the midst of some controversy at Bears training camp, but recently it’s been about custody proceedings and his personal life.

As players report Thursday to Bourbonnais training camp, Urlacher’s relationship with new Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has been called into question according to an interview done by Paul Allen, the voice of the Minnesota Vikings, with former Bears wide receiver Bobby Wade, who led the Vikings in catches the last two seasons.

The whole controversy started when Wade revealed that Urlacher doesn’t think much of Cutler.

Urlacher has denied it all now to the Chicago Tribune in what was one of the most blatant non-denial denials ever published.

In my 15 years covering the team on a daily basis, Wade was always one of the most forthcoming and honest Bears, while Urlacher speaks to only Jay Glazer and a few glad-handers, and usually then only in platitudes.

Here is an exact transcription of what Bobby Wade said Urlacher had to say about Cutler, with the exception of one word deleted because this is a family website. It appears to be a completely unsolicited revelation by Wade and is an interview on a podcast done before a live audience. Urlacher-Cutler isn't the only controversial part either.

Paul Allen:
“Bobby Wade was a collegiate roommate of Lance Briggs who plays for the Chicago Bears, one of the very best linebackers in our division. I’m a Lance Briggs fan. Have you and Lance talked in the offseason about Jay Cutler becoming the quarterback for, personally, my least favorite team?”

Bobby Wade:
"Yeah. We talk a lot about everything that's going on with that program over there."

Paul Allen:
"Did they call you at like three in the morning and Jay was like (Allen making a drunk voice), ‘Bobby we're going to kick your ass this year!’"

Bobby Wade:
"Not an option. He (Cutler) better not ever call me. He's a good player, though. You know what? Jay Cutler is a good player."

Paul Allen:
"He is."

Bobby Wade:
"Obviously it's a bunch different environment going from Denver to play in Chicago. Chicago is a tough club to play for."

Paul Allen:
"It’s a tough guy town."

Bobby Wade:
"Yeah. What's so funny is I actually saw Brian Urlacher this weekend. We were in Las Vegas and we actually had a long conversation."

Paul Allen:
"Hmmm. Was Paris Hilton there?"

Bobby Wade:
"Uhhh, she was not there but another cute blonde was. I don't know, I hope I don't get you in trouble there Brian.

He (Cutler) wasn't...I don't want to get him in trouble, but you know it wasn't what they expected."

Paul Allen:
"Who cares? He plays for the Bears and he’s broken down. Screw him."

Bobby Wade:
"Pretty much he said Jay Cutler was a (five-letter name for feline) for the most part."

Paul Allen:
(Yelling with a lot of audience yelling too)

"Oh, blue (dump) button. Feline. Feline. Loves cats. Cats lover. You know, with all this Michael Vick dog killer stuff in the news, we need more cat lovers.

"A round of applause for Bobby Wade.

"A round of applause for the 11-year career I had at the Fan. Now it’s gone. Erasing."

Bobby Wade:
"So we have a little controversy."

Paul Allen:
"So he (Urlacher) knocked on (Cutler) a little bit?"

Bobby Wade:
"And like I said, that's tough. If you've got a little bit of that going on and you're playing in Chicago and, not only that, but in this NFC North, that's unacceptable."

Paul Allen:
"Jared Allen is just going to whup on somebody, right?"

Bobby Wade:
"That's easy for him though, I mean..."

Paul Allen:
"Jared Allen, Orlando Pace. Orlando Pace, Jared Allen. I mean, Orlando Pace five years ago, I’d say, ‘Whooo, this is going to be a good battle.’ But it sounds to me like (Bears fullback) Jason McKie is going to be doing a lot of chipping (helping Pace block)."

Bobby Wade:
"Yeah. And we saw what that looked like when E.J. hit him last year, right? You guys remember that."

Paul Allen:
"That’s the single, in my eight, nine, whatever it is years, doing play by play, that’s the single biggest hit that I’ve seen in a game."

It’s obvious Allen isn’t exactly the smoothest interviewer. His transition from Urlacher to Allen pass rushing against Bears left tackle Pace was brought up out of thin air. He also was obviously referring to Urlacher when he said "broken down" because he was just saying Cutler was good.

But the stuff about Hilton ought to get him some extra attention.

Either way, this is not the way for a team to start training camp. For years, the Bears’ offense and defense were divided. It can’t promote team unity to have the offense behind Cutler and the defense hating his guts—or at least one of the leaders of the defense.

Urlacher was obviously upset in some brief comments after the Bears acquired Cutler, and most likely it had to do with the trade of Kyle Orton, who was extremely popular with most of the players.

Also, on a side note, after this it will be interesting to see Wade come over the middle where Urlacher is during the Bears-Vikings games.

How friendly will they be now that Wade has spilled the beans?

That is, if Wade even makes the Vikings roster—Minneapolis newspapers speculated he might not even make it, and Wade had to address this possibility later in his interview with Allen.