Okay....first meet me. (lol)
I'm a newbie here. But when it comes to Jay Cutler, I'm no newbie at all. I've followed every game he's ever played. I did the same with John Elway, including High School, since we are the same age and he played in the same district I attended.
I've commented here and there, and taken great offense at Bronco fans who try to pull the wool over Bear fans eyes regarding Cutler. Some of you may have read those threads. This is my first attempt at originating a thread here though. Please "bear" with me. ;-)
And now for Jay...
I gotta tell you guys, this has been some truly exciting days ....watching the city of Chicago embrace this young man, speculating this and that, learning this and that about him. It's been fun reading all of it. I've chuckled a lot.
One thing that really struck me though, especially after reading Ron Turner's interview today, was that none of you guys reeeeaaaally know Jay that well, except maybe through ESPN blowhards and media talking heads who wear more makeup than your wife does.
So I thought I'd be a little brave and try to introduce you guys to our new Franchise QB, Mr. Jay Cutler......through my eyes and experience anyway.
The first thing that will strike you about Jay Cutler is his amazing arm strength. When you see him gun the ball, you will be hard pressed to recall ANY pass moving that fast before....and this includes Mr. Elway's, of which I saw hundreds of them, ...live, up-close, and in person. Cutler most definitely has a stronger arm than Elway. There are freaks of nature out there who have stronger arms, (think Jamarcus Russell) but they can't use them to play the position. Cutler has an Elway, Marino, Bledsoe-like arm. A cannon mounted at the shoulder. He can throw the deep out with ease, and does so on a regular basis. He can throw across his body and off the wrong foot. He can throw laser shots with both feet airborne. I have seen him throw a 35-yard frozen rope when his body was completely horizontal, off the ground, and draped with a 325 lbs. lineman.
Jay Cutler has the strongest, most powerful FUNCTIONING arm in the NFL. Period.
The second thing you will realize once you see Cutler on the field is "Wow!!! This guy can RUN!!!!" Jay is a pocket passer with the speed of a scrambler, and the instincts of a FB. I've seen him run over off-balance DB's trying to tackle him in the open field and then get another 15 yards. I've seen him stiff arm LB's to the turf. He's fast and will not hesitate to take off and run for the first down himself. Faster than Elway was by far, since that seems to be the guy he will forever be compared to. Elway scrambled straight up and down. Cutler, thanks to his porous o-line at Vandy, runs with a forward lean like a RB and his head swiveled, using vision and following blocks. You really have to see it to appreciate it.
What people DON'T know about Jay is that he is very, very strong. We are not talking pumped up bicep, ripped pec strong like a LeBron James. We are talking house-like strong all over, ...from head to toe, more like a Carmello Anthony. You know the type, those guys who seem to have smooth, almost flabby tone to their muscles, but can lift a freaking house? Yeah....that strong. I've watched LB'ers get in Cutler's face after a busted play trying to taunt him. Jay shoved the LB lightly, once in the chest with his right hand. The LB flies backward about 2 yards, lands on his kazoo, and starts screaming for a ref (who was watching the whole thing). Jay just shakes his head and walks back to the huddle.
At the Scouting Combine before he was drafted, ...on a lark, Jay Cutler hit the 225-lbs bench press machine. He pumped out 30 reps. That made him the 4th stongest PERSON coming out of college that year. He now throws TD passes for the Chicago Bears.
Do NOT mess around with Jay Cutler. He may look like a baby face, but that's it. He's stone-cold once that helmet gets on. And it's a fair bet that this QB is the strongest man in the stadium on any given Sunday. Pat Bowlen messed with Jay. Josh McDaniels messed with Jay. Now Jay plays for the team he wanted to play for since he was a little boy. They lost. Jay won.
Jay is dedicated. Jay is not above telling other members of his offense to get their stuff up to snuff and how to do it. He will wear Bear WR's hands out during the off-season. He has been known to have WR's actually move in with him temporarily so that they could get on the same page as Jay. Jay has no problem creating urgency with slow learners at this. Jay runs a huddle, not a nursery school. He expects to score every time he is on the field, and expects all other members of the offense to assist him in this. It's non-negotiable for him. I've rarely seen such competitiveness and fire on the field. Think Elway and Farve.
Jay is mentally tough. He dropped 30 lbs. in his second season, his first as a full-time starter, and lost some zip on his passes. No one knew what was going on. Then he learned that he had diabetes. How did Jay respond>?
He was happy. Yup. Happy.
Happy to have diabetes? Get outta here. That's ridiculous.
Happy to find out what was causing him to drop weight. His smiling response to the press was, "Hey, now I know what's going on and I can work with it." People in Denver were shocked at his maturity and lack of self-victimization. He quickly regained his weight, his arm, and immediately threw for 4500 yards on a team with one of the worst defenses in modern football history. Then he set up a Diabetes Foundation for charity and donated boatloads of time and money to it. And never with a single photo-op of publicity. Not one. He would show up un-announced an un-scheduled, do his thing, and leave.
Jay Cutler is a winner. On the field and off the field where it really counts.
He brings a level of excitement to the game that only a few true superstars at the QB position have ever managed, since he can literally light up the scoreboard under any circumstance, at any time, from anywhere on the field.
He scares the living crap out of opposing defenses. He can do anything and they have no idea what he will do on any given play.
People LOVE to compare Jay Cutler to both Brett Farve and John Elway, both SB Champions and HOF's (future in Farve's case).
Is this fair?
Of course it is. Jay is that talented and that's who he reminds people of when they see him play. I have seen all three play, and have followed Elway's career about as close as it could be followed.
Jay Cutler is already better than John Elway OR Brett Farve. He's that good.
To tell you the honest truth, he's the best QB I've ever seen play the game in the 40 years I've been watching it. And as a John Elway fan since he played HS, that's hard for me to say.....but it's the truth. He's better.
He's the Michael Jordan of the NFL.
Jay Cutler will win more Superbowls than any QB in NFL history by the time his career is over.
I said the same thing about Elway when he entered the NFL and people laughed at me then, only I said he's take his team to more SB's than any QB. And he did. Five of them. So I have no prob going out on a limb when I see the goods, and I SEE the goods.
So you may call me a homer. So be it. We'll see how that works out around mid-season when the Bears are 8-0.
Putting Jay Cutler on a team with a defense and a running game is like giving General George S. Patton night vision and cruise missiles.
It's really going to be unfair. For the rest of the NFL that is.....
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GO BEARS!!!!