Hide the Cutlery! QB skewered in the court of public opinion
Surely it was the first time a professional athlete has submitted to an MRI thinking, “Please let it show something bad.” But that had to be Jay Cutler’s thought Monday, the day after he’d been branded a quitter on what we like to call social media.
Cutler is the Bears’ quarterback. He left Sunday’s NFC championship game one series into the second half and stood — as opposed to sitting; this would, believe it or not, become a major Talking Point — on the sideline as his team lost to Green Bay. All the while he was being lambasted in that strange corner of our new world known as the Twitterverse.
Twitter is the realm where the unexpressed thought need not apply. What you had for breakfast: Grist for the mill. What you thought of that contestant on “Idol”: Have at it (but keep it under 140 characters). On Sunday afternoon Twitter was awash with NFL players — some current, some retired, none with anything better to do — taking turns opining that Jay Cutler had flunked his audition.
From Maurice Jones-Drew of Jacksonville: “Hey, I think the Urban Meyer rule is in effect right now. When the going gets tough … QUIT.”
From Deion Sanders, formerly of many teams but now just another mouth: “I’m telling you in the playoffs you must drag me off the field. All the medicine in pro locker rooms [and] this dude comes out! I apologize, Bear fans! . . . Folks, I never question a player’s injury but I do question a player’s heart.”
Never mind that these folks — and a dozen others — had no real knowledge of the severity of Cutler’s injury. They were watching on TV, same as everyone else. But their Tweeting fingers took a key development from a big game and turned it into a referendum on a man’s character. One after another, the Twitter audience rose to proclaim: Heck, I once played with a broken ankle — no, two broken ankles! No, THREE! And a open head wound besides!
Deion Sanders has the charming habit of ending his Tweets with the word, “Truth.” (Five characters.) Well, here’s the truth on Jay Cutler: He was sacked 12 more times than any NFL quarterback this season. He has missed one NFL start in five seasons, that with a concussion. He’s also a Type 1 diabetic, which means he must carry a blood-sugar monitor with him at all times.
Until Sunday, nobody questioned Cutler’s manhood. His demeanor and his play, yes, but not his heart. And now, because he stood on the sideline — without an apparent limp! — in a game everyone was watching, he’d chickened out. (Never mind that the Bears insisted team doctors told him not to play.)
About here, we shake our head at the incongruity of Deion Sanders, who might actually have made a tackle at some point in his 14-year career, ripping anyone for an absence of grit. We wonder, not for the first time, why any professional athlete healthy enough to play would simply abstain. Mostly we wonder how it must have been for Cutler to hear afterward from reporters that “some players” had spent the afternoon calling him a wimp via their QWERTY keyboards.
Actually, we don’t have to wonder. According to Jim Trotter of SI.com, Cutler turned his back to the media horde when the question was asked. When he faced his inquisitors again, there were tears in his eyes. (Naturally, this was taken by some as further indication that he’s not a Real Man. Please.)
As night fell Sunday, Cutler had to be asking the question the former Labor Secretary Ray Donovan posed after being acquitted on fraud charges: “Where do I go to get my reputation back?” For the quarterback, the answer was — bizarrely enough in a story that has gone miles beyond bizarre — the MRI machine.
Imagine the reaction had his film come back clean. (Every Twitter server might have spit its bytes on the spot.) But apparently the X-rays showed a sprained medial collateral ligament, meaning a partial tear — and no holes where his heart and his guts were supposed to be. Naturally, some shrill voices declared Cutler still should have tried to play, that a MCL sprain is no big deal. And that, in our tale of New Media, sounded somehow old-fashioned.
From the dawn of time, there has been nothing that hurts less than someone else’s pain.
By Mark Bradley
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119 comments Add your comment
NoFKNdog
January 24th, 2011
4:55 pm
Deion(Lamont Sanford) Sanders should have played for the gamecocks, because he is full of chicken sh**.
NoFKNdog
January 24th, 2011
4:56 pm
Enter your comments here
just askin
January 24th, 2011
4:57 pm
Who really cares?
Mark Bradley
January 24th, 2011
5:02 pm
You folks are right: Cutler had no political capital to spend.
Whopper Dawg
January 24th, 2011
5:05 pm
Even with everything they gave up to get Cutler, he wouldn’t be on my team next year.
Think Favre would have played?
Really a Jag talks down?
January 24th, 2011
5:07 pm
ok maybe I understand Sanders being able to talk but Jacksonville Jaguars Maurice Jones-Drew never even been to an AFC Championship game, runs his mouth?
now if that doesn’t deserve a “lol what an idiot” i don’t know what does
JACKET89
January 24th, 2011
5:08 pm
Deion should close each twitter with another five letter word: MOUTH. No one has ever had the mouth of this wimpy, no tackle CB and that includes T.O. With Deion’s high pitch voice, some should ask him who the real girl is???
Really a Jag talks down?
January 24th, 2011
5:11 pm
lol what a dumass MJD is!
“Jones tweeted later: “All I’m saying is that he can finish the game on a hurt knee … I played the whole season on one.””
“Washington 20 at Jacksonville 17
With star running back Maurice Jones-Drew sidelined because of a knee injury”
this guy is so full of himself and has no clue what he’s talking about
E. Gordon Gee
January 24th, 2011
5:18 pm
Best QB to ever play at Vandy.
JSS
January 24th, 2011
5:25 pm
“Until Sunday, nobody questioned Cutler’s manhood. His demeanor and his play, yes, but not his heart. And now, because he stood on the sideline — without an apparent limp! — in a game everyone was watching, he’d chickened out. (Never mind that the Bears insisted team doctors told him not to play.)”
He’s no Y.A. Tittle! Sorry, but there are people in Denver who have said worse things about him… He’s only two steps above Josh McDaniel in the eyes of Broncos fans.
And the one thing you can’t be in the “Land of Piccolo” is perceived as soft… You’re old enough to remember the Stockyards… He’s lost that City, torn MCL or not… Say hello to the Arizona Cardinals’ new QB…
Court Of Public Opinion
January 24th, 2011
5:28 pm
Let’s don’t over react now.
Mark (a different one)
January 24th, 2011
5:29 pm
Take Coach Smith’s word for it. “As far as Jay, Jay didn’t take himself out of the game. If you’re going to attack somebody, you should be attacking me. As a head football coach, and our medical staff, we’re the ones … he wanted to go back in.”
Cutler played the first series of the second half, after receiving treatment during halftime. They didn’t like what they saw, and they pulled him, against his wishes. Cutler looks rejected and I guess if I had fought all my career to make a Super Bowl, and was pulled during the second half of the conference championships, I might look dejected as well.
The real shame is that the people in the press that are ripping him will never be held accountable. They will just insist they are right and that we ‘don’t know because we never played NFL football.” Baloney.
Everyone tries to read in the hidden meanings. Here’s one. Ryan and his fiance wanted to go to Hawaii and the Pro Bowl so he threw the game. Sounds stupid but it makes as much sense as Cutler tanking when he is so near his goal.
JSS
January 24th, 2011
5:31 pm
He cried!
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Cutler-cried-when-told-about-player-s-criticism-?urn=nfl-311669
JSS
January 24th, 2011
5:36 pm
“I had fought all my career to make a Super Bowl, and was pulled during the second half of the conference championships, I might look dejected as well.”
Cutler always looks that! That faraway gaze, somewhere between a lost puppy and a serial killer who was just caught…
sogadog
January 24th, 2011
5:54 pm
Any type 1 diabetic that can play professional sports is without question tough as nails. Cutler is a great quarterback and I do not question his courage or toughness. He will be back and if the Falcons flop again next year, I hope he and the Bears make the super bowl.
Sports Review
January 24th, 2011
5:55 pm
[...] Hide the Cutlery! QB skewered in the court of public opinionAtlanta Journal Constitution (blog)Lovie Smith Sticks Up for Jay Cutler, Praises Backup QB Caleb HanieFanHouseYahoo! Sports -Detroit Free Press -San Francisco Chronicleall 6,903 news articles » [...]
BK
January 24th, 2011
6:10 pm
The whole Falcons team quit a week ago more than Cutler quit yesterday.
Steve
January 24th, 2011
6:36 pm
Deion and Co are pathetic. Put simply, if this is not a white QB Deion doesn’t open his fat mouth. As for Jones-Drew? Does anyone care?
His teammates backed him. His history backs him because ANYONe who has watched the beating he has taken this year would realize there is no way this guy is soft. There is no reason to believe this guy backed down. The game was far from over and there was absolutely no reason for him to ‘duck out’. If he wasn’t able to move then it was probably best for his team to get him out of there anyway, as the Packers were annihilating the Bears blockers.
Anyone calling this guy soft better look in the mirror first.
Oh, and I hate the Bears. Just can’t believe that Cutler is the scapegoat for this. Maybe if they had come out running like they did for their third string QB then Cutler wouldn’t have been battered by the end of the first quarter.
Mike
January 24th, 2011
6:38 pm
I’ve seen the guy play hurt before. Sounds like the docs told him to stay out.
I think it’s just black players firing off on the white QB. They’d never turn on Vick, who is Mr. Glass, although he showed toughness this year in a contract year.
count_schemula
January 24th, 2011
6:44 pm
He played poorly and he did quit mentally.
I know enough about knees to know that maybe he could walk around, but he probably has ZERO side strength and could not move sideways. So, the knee injury is legit, and maybe he should have played, completely destroyed the knee with a camera op play like Joe Theisman (I still am not a fan of watching that play) and left on stretcher. That’s our NFL. A mess of contradictions.
On the quitting though, I would be upset with the sulking stuff. He was the #1 QB, he had the plan in his head. After the injury, he needs to become a QB coach essentially. He definitely shirked those duties with his sullen dejection act.
Some of the other stuff makes NO sense. He was scared to get hit? No starting QB is scared to get hit. Not saying they love it, but not scared. I’d like to see any fan take a hit from the smallest dude on the reserve squad and see how they take it. Wheezing for breath and crying like a baby is what I’d expect to see.
banned_schemula
January 24th, 2011
6:45 pm
He played poorly and he did quit mentally.
I know enough about knees to know that maybe he could walk around, but he probably has ZERO side strength and could not move sideways. So, the knee injury is legit, and maybe he should have played, completely destroyed the knee with a camera op play like Joe Theisman (I still am not a fan of watching that play) and left on stretcher. That’s our NFL. A mess of contradictions.
On the quitting though, I would be upset with the sulking stuff. He was the #1 QB, he had the plan in his head. After the injury, he needs to become a QB coach essentially. He definitely shirked those duties with his sullen dejection act.
Some of the other stuff makes NO sense. He was scared to get hit? No starting QB is scared to get hit. Not saying they love it, but not scared. I’d like to see any fan take a hit from the smallest dude on the reserve squad and see how they take it. Wheezing for breath and crying like a baby is what I’d expect to see.
collegeballfan
January 24th, 2011
6:46 pm
No one ever said Sanders had great intellect, speed yes, intellect no.
Word on the street in Chicago is that Cutler used the tears because he is planning on running for Speaker of the House. Word is he figured if it works for Boehner it may work for him.
OldTimer
January 24th, 2011
7:03 pm
Sanders has something Cutler never will, a Super Bowl ring, and an attitude to match.
OldTimer
January 24th, 2011
7:06 pm
And as for Sanders not making a tackle… he just put Cutler face down in the dirt.
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January 24th, 2011
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Pago Pago DAWG
January 24th, 2011
7:17 pm
If he had been a “brother”, dion wouldn’t open his mouth. Think about it…
OldTimer
January 24th, 2011
7:18 pm
Thought about it, you’re an idiot.
BigDawg17
January 24th, 2011
7:26 pm
When Deion talks no one listens…..I change the channel whenever he is on.
OldTimer
January 24th, 2011
7:27 pm
Same old thing Bid Dawg, when he played no one would throw the ball to his side of the field.
Double Zero Eight
January 24th, 2011
7:34 pm
The last I heard it was a contusion. Bart Starr, Johnny Unitas, Doug Williams, Big Ben would have played in my opinion. Of course Urlacher is going to take up for him. ,
Tweets that mention Hide the Cutlery! QB skewered in the court of public opinion | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
January 24th, 2011
7:36 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by david jean, GreenEddie23g. GreenEddie23g said: Hide the Cutlery! QB skewered in the court of public opinion: We wonder, not for the first time, why any profess… http://bit.ly/icIKks [...]
Double Zero Eight
January 24th, 2011
7:37 pm
I left Favre out in my previous post. They would have had to cart him off the field to get him out of a NFC conference championship game.
Hey Guys
January 24th, 2011
8:11 pm
Maurice said all that he posted was just a joke about Florida and you were suppose to laugh!
Bob
January 24th, 2011
8:17 pm
Mark, Glad you mentioned Deion Sanders’ potential one tackle that he almost made while playing. It’s impossible to count the number of times a healthy Sanders would take a punt, and run for the sideline. He so obviously avoided contact that it was comical, and it’s no less comical that he of all people would make any negative comment about Jay Cutler.
Panama
January 24th, 2011
8:17 pm
How did this become a litmus test on race. Its very simple. It’s Chicago. There are a lot of Chicagoans upset today of all hues.. We are talking about a lunch pail city. We are talking about a city that closes only after 4 feet of snow are on the ground. We are talking about a city where you are required to shovel your walk even if there are two feet of snow on it. So this guy is standing around with a stiff knee against THEM. THEM! The PACKERS! In a championship game. People got up and went to work in zero degree windchill. They waited 15 minutes for their cars to heat up. They had to make the walk through their back yard to get to their garage and sit there in a cold car. Mailmen were delivering mail. Construction workers and welders were working outside and a lot of them were stiff and in pain and twice Cutler’s age. So it’s about the impression you give that you cold care less as you stand on the same sideline where Grange, Butkus, Payton and Ditka played hurt on. You’re standing there representing a franchise that prides itself as being the toughest in the NFL. Forget the MRI. Ask yourself, what the demeanor would be of Favre in that situation? Manning? Elway? McNair?
Iron Head
January 24th, 2011
8:25 pm
Call Deon what you want, but soon he will be know as NFL Hall of Famer because he was a shut down corner.
Michael
January 24th, 2011
8:28 pm
I still remember Deion riding on Jerry Rice’s back into the end zone on multiple occasions. Then he went to the Niners and the Boyz and became defensive player of the year. Go figure.
Macon Sports Fan
January 24th, 2011
8:29 pm
They benched him. He was sulking because they yanked his butt out of the game because he sucked. The Chicago coaching staff saw after the first series of the 2nd half that they had no chance with Cutler in the game, so they benched him. I don’t see where his toughness enters into it.
Mcbubba
January 24th, 2011
8:32 pm
“From the dawn of time, there has been nothing that hurts less than someone else’s pain.”
Be careful, Mr. Bradley, somebody might mistake you for a liberal or something…
Get a Life
January 24th, 2011
8:50 pm
Unless any of you are pro level QB’s playing in the Nfl back off him. What’s yalls problem? He knows his body best and if he’s hurting he’s hurting bad. Im a HUGE falcons fan but if you guys know how much work they put into a season you will appreciate these pros. Appreciate they’re talent and dont hate.
Get a Life
January 24th, 2011
8:53 pm
Dilfer the tool shouldn’t run his mouth either cause the RAVENS D won him a Super Bowl ring.
Jeff
January 24th, 2011
8:54 pm
Sorry, Mark, you usually have some great points, but I have to disagree with you on this subject.
Cutler has been a prima-donna his whole career, going back to Vanderbilt. He has never given off the persona of a tough guy who plays through stuff (injuries, a struggling offense, a good defense, etc.) When things are going great, he’s all “pump the fists, roar, give teammates some high fives”, but when there are ANY signs of trouble, he suddenly looks like a sullen little frat boy on the sidelines.
The man gets paid. Dude, does he EVER get paid. Pro athletes these days get paid a king’s ransom for playing a game. Unless your arm is falling off or we can hear an audible leg snap or we can SEE a devastating, twisting knee injury, you’d better at least ACT like you’re chomping at the bit to come back in and earn your money. See guys like Brett Favre or Philip Rivers or Aaron Rodgers… they take some horrific shots and still try to get back in. They know their team, their coaches and their fans EXPECT them to perform.
Finally, the stakes were higher than just an average NFL game. This was a chance to get to the Super Bowl! I didn’t see Cutler take any particular hard shots in the Green Bay game — he was just getting harassed and getting a few hits, but nothing exceptional. His throws were off, even when he wasn’t pressured, and he didn’t seem the least bit disturbed to miss the second half of the game OR to help his rookie third stringer as that guy desperately tried to bring the Bears back. Cutler LOOKED and ACTED like a man who “checked out”, who things weren’t going his way, so he decided it wasn’t worth digging down deep and having a gut check.
If he’d gotten destroyed by a massive hit, like Steve Young took to end his career, or the one where Vick broke his leg in a preseason game one year, or whatever, we’d understand. But this was a supposedly big-time quarterback wilting under the pressure of a big-time game, and a supposed injury was his ticket out.
No Hall of Fame player comes out of an NFL playoff game, certainly not with a Super Bowl on the line. Tom Brady played LAST WEEK with a broken bone in his foot… Cutler gets an “ouchy” and decides he will sit out. Sorry, Mark, but this is typical pretty-boy Cutler — a front-runner to the end, a guy who is great when things are going well, but who suc*s when the pressure is on.
I feel bad for the Bear fans… they deserved better quarterback play in an NFC Championship game.
LADawg
January 24th, 2011
8:54 pm
And Joe Theisman should have sucked it up and come back the next play after having his leg destroyed by LT. Dion played out in space where he could take all running plays off. Every play there is over a ton of angry defenders wanting to destroy a quarterback. Play hurt with the Bears offensive line and you may be able to take the rest of your career off.
All of Maurice's Championship Rings
January 24th, 2011
8:57 pm
Maurice Drew continues to prove he is a hypocrite and an idiot. While he’s at it – he needs to pick one last name, just like everyone else.
Get a Life
January 24th, 2011
8:57 pm
Prima Donna Cutler is better than any of yall will ever be. Back off guys, unless you ACTUALLY play at the QB position.
All of Maurice's Championship Rings
January 24th, 2011
9:00 pm
Jeff – Have you ever had an injury where you know you can’t perform? (I bet you haven’t) Well, let me help you – it sucks – you might look like you can perform but your body and you know all you are going to do is stink it up.
Cut Jay Cutler some slack – none of us were on the sidelines yesterday.
Ross
January 24th, 2011
9:01 pm
Deion Sanders is one to talk, he never met a tackle he wouldnt run from.
luangtom
January 24th, 2011
9:03 pm
Who cares??? In a week, no one will really give a ….
JSS
January 24th, 2011
9:09 pm
All of Maurice’s Championship Rings
January 24th, 2011
8:57 pm
“Maurice Drew continues to prove he is a hypocrite and an idiot. While he’s at it – he needs to pick one last name, just like everyone else.”
Not a fan of the Jags; but since someone brought it up…
Maurice Jones-Drew hyphenated his name to honor his Grandfather who helped raise him and died of a heart attack just before his last year of college… FYI…
Headley Lamar
January 24th, 2011
9:10 pm
I once played half a game with a broken wrist ( broken by a inside fastball earlier in the game )
I shouldnt have. I was in extreme pain and could barely make a fist.
Later in the game a guy tried to steal third. I could barely catch the ball and make the tag.
After that, the pain causing tears, I took myself out.
This isnt the 1950’s. If he was hurt he was hurt. Turns out he was. He wasnt going to help the team much running back out there.