When are folks going to leave Jay Cutler alone?
Probably never.
Unfortunately for Cutler, his toughness quotient is likely to be forever questioned. That's really too bad. The Chicago Bears would've never reached the NFC Championship game without Cutler as the starter at quarterback. OK, so he didn't get much of anything done before being sidelined by a sprained medial collateral ligament in Sunday's loss to Green Bay. Had he been healthy, would he have been banished to the bench? Not a chance.
Quite honestly, I was very surprised at the uproar caused by some NFL players whose teams didn't even make the playoffs. Guess they felt it was their calling to voice their opinions by making public tweets on Twitter. They weren't the only ones. A couple of well-respected former pros who are now sportscasters chipped in with their two cents worth (talk about piling on). The Bears, led by general manager Jerry Angelo and star linebacker Brian Urlacher came to Cutler's defense. Charles Barkley even joined in by lambasting those who made harsh comments about the Bears QB.
Was Cutler injured to the point where could no longer play effectively? Bears coach Lovie Smith and the team's medical staff thought so. They made the decision to sit Cutler down for the rest of the day.
Jay Cutler will learn, if he hasn't already, that from now on, every move he makes will be closely watched. Fact is, it's already happened. Cutler was sighted going to a Chicago-area restaurant where he dined on the second floor. The only problem was that instead of taking the elevator, he walked up the steps -- with no noticeable limp and no crutches. Now folks are thinking that if he can handle some stairs, he should've been able to handle two more quarters of football in a game that determined which team would represent the NFC in Super Bowl XLV.
Nobody was saying anything about Cutler's toughness when he got jacked-up and broken-up by the New York Giants during the regular season. Philadelphia sports fans are notorious for being unkind. Chicago isn't that far behind. How else could you explain folks burning Cutler's jersey all because their beloved team lost a championship game?
Sad. Very sad.
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