Why Denver Fans Trashing Jay Cutler is Hypocricy

This article is not only a specific reaction to some individuals who write/say things that border on hate about a professional athlete they've never met, but this is also, and perhaps most specifically, pointed at media individuals like ESPN's Mark Schlereth.

Any and all objectivity in regards to the words "loyalty" and "trust" have been thrown out the window since the implosion of the Denver offense a few weeks ago, with talking heads like Schlereth leading the charge.

Schlereth has been heard repeatedly saying that "his Denver Broncos" aren't self-centered, selfish and all about me, me, me. In fact, how dare Cutler hold his ability as a bargaining chip against a team that treated him poorly?

Schlereth has gone as far as to say that Cutler lacks the leadership skills of his quarterback, John Elway.

(Brief interjection before Denver fans jump down my throat for trashing them and the history of their franchise: I am a Bears fan that owns an authentic John Elway jersey and firmly believes that Elway is he best quarterback to every play the game.)

But...

Let's hit the rewind button for a moment. Broncos fans, their former players and the talking heads that want to defend them have always, and will always compare any quarterback in Denver to Elway. As they should; he is an all-time great and a standard bearer for the position and that franchise.

But how did Denver end up with Elway in the first place?

It seems to me that Elway was a promising quarterback at Stanford who, similarly to Eli Manning of a few years ago, wanted nothing to do with the team holding the top overall pick in the draft, the Baltimore Colts.

Elway was also an All American third baseman at Stanford also. In an effort to avoid every wearing the Colts uniform, the same uniform that Johnny Unitas had worn, Elway reminded the Colts that he had played two summers of minor league baseball for the New York Yankees as a third baseman.

If the Colts drafted him, and intended to keep him, he would be playing in the Bronx in the summer, not Baltimore in the winter.

So when the Colts picked Elway with the top selection of the 1983 draft, their hands were tied similarly to how Manning cuffed the Chargers and, over the past month, Cutler has handicapped the Broncos.

They were forced to either deal him, or eat the top pick. Obviously, they traded him to Denver, and the rest is history.

Let's then look back to the 1990s, after Elway had failed in his first few tries at the Super Bowl. He publicly feuded so much with then-coach Dan Reeves that the franchise selected Tommy Maddox with the 25th overall pick in the 1992 draft.

History tells us that Maddox didn't work out. Reeves, who had banked on Maddox winning the job away from Elway and Reeves winning their feud, would eventually lose his job because he couldn't get along with the talented quarterback.

And yet it is these actions, similar to the same moves that are now getting Cutler called a primadonna, that led to the photo of Pat Bowlen at the head of this story.

The Broncos won two Super Bowls to conclude the great career of Elway because the quarterback fought with the Colts and Reeves and got his way.

So, Denver, go ski your angst away and come back after the draft with some fresh material. The baseline for your argument, that Cutler should be a committed leader to franchise that drafted him and his new coach that stabbed him in the back, is hypocritical. The legend against which you are measuring Cutler did all of the same things.