Bears Blitz

Published by John Heinis on January 26, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Despite the recent barrage of hatred from current and former players, fans, and analysts towards Jay Cutler in the past few days, there have been a select few who have had Cutler’s back during this tough time for the former Vanderbilt quarterback. 

Doing promotional interviews for the NFL’s Play 60 campaign at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, Drew Brees stated the following: “Nobody knows the extent of Jay Cutler’s injury except for him and the Bears training staff, so nobody can comment on it fairly. I think it’s unfair to do so just because you don’t know.”

This should not come as much of a shock to fans and players alike: Brees is recognized as one of the nicest, and respected guys in the league, so it is no surprise he would stick up for a fellow quarterback. 

However, his comments mean a little more than say Charles Barkley’s.

Barkley basically condemned players for criticizing Cutler’s heart, but said he could understand the disapproval regarding Cutler not taking more of a coaching role with third-stringer Caleb Hanie as he came in for relief duty against the Packers. 

Back to Brees, the reason his comments hold some water is that he sprained his MCL in Week 3 against the Falcons, and continued to play during the subsequent six weeks of rehabbing the injury by wearing a knee brace. 

Brees called himself “fortunate” to be able to play through such an injury. 

Full back Heath Evans, a teammate of Brees, also addressed the Cutler situation as a special guest on ESPN2 on Monday. 

Evans was inactive for the Saints playoff run and eventual Super Bowl win last year due to a suffering a torn ACL in late October.   

Therefore, he at first had no problem with Cutler sitting out due to injury, but said that he “did the wrong thing” by not cheering on his team and mentoring the young Hanie. 

Despite being a bit injury prone in his career, Evans changed his tone when directly comparing Brees to Cutler. 

He stated that Brees played for six weeks with an MCL tear this season, despite the fact that both Brees and head coach Sean Payton seem to agree that the injury was a mild sprain. 

Evans went on to say “Sorry Jay, I love you, but Drew Brees played six weeks with a torn MCL,’’ obviously implying that he thought Cutler could have finished the NFC championship game by simply toughing out the pain. 

Cutler is yet to, and likely has no desire to, comment on the wave on controversy started by his injury. 

Personally, this writer finds it extremely difficult to believe that Cutler just decided to quit in the NFC championship. 

Cutler played on a very poor Vanderbilt team, a horrible Broncos squad, and then an equally disappointing Bears team last year. 

Therefore, Cutler has been yearning to play on a successful squad since high school: he turned 28 years old this season. 

Regardless what kind of person Cutler is, whether he is a crybaby, has a “me first” mentality, or is a patron saint who gives to charity regularly and goes to church every Sunday, that should have no impact on whether or not he wants to go to the Super Bowl. 

If he really is a selfish player, why would he not want the glory of playing on the biggest stage possible in the NFL? 

If he really is a great person, leader, and overall team player, obviously he wants the Bears to emerge Super Bowl champions and relish in the victory with his teammates and coaches. 

Furthermore, Cutler was the most sacked quarterback in the league this season.  He was used to playing through pain and dealing with injuries. 

If Jay Cutler was going to quit when the going got tough, he would have quit a long time ago. 

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