Jay Cutler Thrives in Ambiguity

Jay Cutler never won anything significant in college, though he racked up serious statistics. While at Vanderbilt, Cutler was a three-year captain and four-year starter, setting school career records for total offense (9,953 yds.), touchdown passes (59), passing yards (8,697), pass completions (710), pass attempts (1,242) and combined touchdowns (76). He finished with an 11-34 record as a starter.

I ganked the italicized descriptions from Cutler’s Wikipedia page, and bring this up because the only thing Cutler has ever run successfully in football is his mouth. The latest episode occurred August 15th following the Bears’ preseason loss to the Bills. During the game, Jay under-threw a 48 yard pass intended for Devin Hester that was picked off. After the game, he said this of his wide receiver on the interception in discussion:

“You know, Devin is more of a go-get-it guy, he’s not really a back shoulder, or jump up and get it. You learn from it. We made some mistakes. It’s the first preseason game, luckily enough we have some time to correct them and keep going.”

Pretty strong words to the press and public from a quarterback who’s been with the team for a shade under five months. If Cutler didn’t have a history of questionable complaints and sound bites AND if he wasn’t the new guy in town, this comment wouldn’t have been a big issue. If Cutler had saved his synopsis for a private discussion in the locker room, it wouldn’t have been an issue, either. Lo and behold, the quarterback with the golden arm and nasty bowl cut is spouting off at the mouth again.

Everything with Cutler is ambiguous: he’s just being honest and outspoken … or just being cocky and self-centered … or both. He’s just being a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback … or just being a mediocre leader yet to make the postseason … or both. (He’s just being a dork with his bowl cut … or is just a regular dude who doesn’t care about his hair style … or both).

After the Bills game, there was a lesser publicized Cutler jab at Hester. See, Cutler threw 6 of 10 passes to Hester, and Devin only caught two of them.  Will Cutler throw that much that direction going forward in the season?

“He’s going to get a lot of balls. You know he was in position to get some tonight. They played a lot of single high [safety], they pressed him a little bit. It’s just how it goes. He might not get as many next week.”

This one is arguably just as damning as the previously mentioned, highly publicized remark. Hester was in position to get some receptions tonight, but he only got two of them. That stupid Devin Hester.

When news hit Cutler that his comments ruffled feathers, he responded thusly:

You’d think Cutler was Hester’s positions coach or something having read that classroom comment. “He’s fine and I’m fine because I’m Jay Cutler … and I’m AWESOME”.

Cutler continues …

“He’s a go-down-the-field-and-get-the-ball [receiver]. It was a bad ball. I didn’t give him a chance. I have to throw it down there and let him run under it.”

If Cutler had just said that, it would have sufficed, but he always has to say SOMETHING extra. That ambiguous son of a bitchy bowl cut.

The fun doesn’t end there, folks. NO NO. Last week, the best Bears quarterback since the last one managed to rip on Broncos fans. ###MORE###

“In Denver, we didn’t have this many fans at all. We weren’t even able to accommodate that many fans [at practice]. That’s Chicago Bears fans for you. They’re proud of their Bears. “It’s a lot [different]. Denver’s like a 6 and Chicago’s like a 9. It’s quite a bit different. Just the fans and how passionate they are, that’s probably the biggest difference.”

I had no idea Jay Cutler had a measuring scale for fan passion. He’s like Gallup, Rasmussen and Zogby polls that measure passion indexes. Great!

Is it honesty and outspoken candor or too much me-me-me in Jay Cutler? Seems like more of the latter, but that will be a non-issue so long as Cutler and the Bears make the playoffs this year. Something tells me it will be real interesting, though, when Cutler deals with the Chicago winds and very few receiving options. We’ll see what the mouth says then.

EPILOGUE

On March 6, 2006, Patrick Imig was fascinated with Jay Cutler’s flappy jaw-and-gums. Cutler was all-knowing and awesome even before he was drafted by the Broncos. Take a look at this past documentation.

It is truly amazing to see Jay Cutler become the “top quarterback in the draft” according to some of the lesser intelligent people associated with football.  Hey folks, here’s the reason he’s now the “Top Quarterback” according to our Monday Morning Memo crack team.

Example A: “With Matt and Vince not working out, the spotlight wasn’t going to be on them. It was going to have to go somewhere else. That was the reason I wanted to step up and throw and get some of that media attention and kind of ride that wave a little bit.” – Jay Cutler, on Jay Cutler

“You want to try to keep your name positive in the media as much as possible up until the draft.” – Jay Cutler, on Jay Cutler

Example B: Sean Payton of the Saints said Cutler reminded him of a young Brett Favre.

Example C: “Someone just said to me Mel Kiper was saying I was the most overhyped guy in the draft so far.  You get to the top, then people start picking at you.  That’s what happened with Vince and Matt.” – Jay Cutler, on Jay Cutler

Notice that in Example A, Cutler admits that he is more or less using the media as his stepping stone to a larger contract.  The more hype and talk, the odds are greater that he rakes in some serious cash.  Wise beyond his years, he knows the power of the voice.

With Example B, Cutler has just achieved a media wet dream.  He is now officially a member of the Top Quarterback Class – someone who has been validated by one “expert”.  One person (1) thinks Cutler is similar in one regard to one of the greatest quarterbacks of my generation.  If an NFL coach thinks this, it must be certain that Cutler is the cream of crop, right?

With Example C, we see the culmination of the first two examples… Cutler’s Hello and Culter’s Acceptance.  Now Cutler is a permanent draft fixture.  Not only does he get lumped with the world’s most well known draft expert, but he re-affirms the rumor that yes, he is indeed at the top.

Wise beyond his years, that Cutler is.

The full column which the inaugural Jay Cutler session appeared can be read here; but it’s not timely unless you can time travel.

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