Jay Cutler just can’t seem to win. Even when he plays well and guides the Chicago Bears to a 34-18 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, Cutler receives his usual mainstream media treatment. Jay Cutler is a Jerk.
Early in the Monday Night game there was some miscommunication getting the offensive play into Cutler, he had to burn a timeout, and he wasn’t happy with it. Then they failed to pick up a first down and there was some understandable frustration with that. Chicago offensive coordinator Mike Tice wanted to talk to Jay when he came back to the sideline, and Cutler didn’t feel very chatty.
Tice approached Cutler, Cutler took a seat on the bench. Tice sat next to him, Cutler got up and walked away. To me this was a case of two highly competitive adults that had a disagreement, and instead of saying something he would regret or allowing the situation to escalate he simply walked away. No biggie.
But this being a nationally televised game, the incident took on a life of its own. Two weeks ago Cutler was ripped for scalding into his left tackle and bumping him as he walked by, this week he’s ripped for being quiet.
Earlier today on Chicago’s ESPN 1000, Cutler said: “If I yell on sidelines I get killed. If I say nothing on the sidelines I get killed.” Yep, that sounds about right.
Cutler added that the exchange was simply Tice saying ‘we need to get the first down’ and him responding ‘I know’, but that’s not nearly controversial enough.
Forget about the fact that Tice and Cutler both probably forgot about the incident as quickly as the next offensive series. When asked in the post game presser about the exchange or should I say the lack of exchange with his coach he said: “it wasn’t about anything”, then he elaborated further;
“No (I wasn’t upset). What are we looking for here? I know we’ve got to sell papers, but … I mean, we can’t read into everything. You guys have got to sell papers and it’s hard out there. But we can’t blow up every headline. Things happen in football games. Just because I walk off and go get water, that doesn’t mean much.”
Forget about the fact that both the player and coach were seen laughing on the sideline later. Please don’t bother reporting that Jay Cutler was seen encouraging and congratulating his offensive linemen, including left tackle J’Marcus Webb later in the game. That’s just not what Jay does.
There’s a great meme floating around that sums up all this Cutler hysteria, and I’ll paraphrase: Tom Brady cusses out his coach, he’s a leader. Peyton Manning rips into his offensive line, he has passion. Aaron Rodgers is sad on the sideline, he’s determined. Philip Rivers scowls, he has fire. Jay Cutler does any of the above and he’s an ass.
The Bears are 3-1 after four games this season, and the last 3 years with Cutler under center they are 20-8 including an NFC Championship game appearance. The more he wins, the more he’ll bolster his image in a positive way, and if he ever wins the Super Bowl, the “ass” will suddenly become a passionate leader.