Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
The way the NFC Championship Game ended could barely have been worse for Jay Cutler. His team finally got the ball moving on offense and rallied to a closer, valiant loss but only after he was forced to leave the game with injuries. That's the sort of scenario that gets fans thinking about burning Cutler's jersey.
That picture, from @brianvanarsdale, should tell us something about the reaction to Cutler's terrible day. I hope it's not the only thing we remember about Cutler's day, though — and I hope we learn something from it.
Searching for Cutler's name and "bitch" on Twitter finds a lot of people unimpressed with Cutler's toughness; searching Cutler and girl finds more folks lashing out.
This is the ugly side of football, the "ultimate man's sport": toughness is determined by people who are sitting on couches with laptops and iPads, and graded on a scale from man to woman that seems to have been codified in 1957 and untouched through the women's rights movement. And yet no one knows what's actually wrong with Cutler, or what he might have been risking by returning to the game.
We might not learn about that, either, thanks to the NFL's notoriously secretive injury culture, which guards information about maladies like state secrets, lest players be seen as less tough or valuable or teams be seen as heartless machines. Could Cutler, who reportedly left with a knee injury, have also sustained a concussion? Could his knee injury be worse than anyone knows?
We as fans tend to lionize athletes who exhibit "toughness" above and beyond their peers despite having little clue what those players go through to play. Yes, players ripped Cutler today, but the Bears have had his back, with Cutler saying he wanted to keep playing but the team wouldn't let him.
It's probably already too late for Cutler's reputation on this day; things calcify pretty quickly when Caleb Hanie plays well while you sit on the sidelines. But in the days and weeks to come, I hope that we take some time to figure out what was wrong with Jay Cutler today — and reflect on whether we were wrong to judge him as harshly or as quickly as we did.
5 comments
Comments
Well said.
I’m not a Bears fan…I am a Seahawks fan who was rooting for the Packers…but calling Cutler a wuss for an unknown injury? How will people feel if it’s a torn ACL or a concussion?
by BrettJMiller on Jan 23, 2011 7:10 PM EST reply actions
This is pathetic
If Cutler could have played, he would have. On the series before he went out he took a shot to the knee, and I’m sure the doctors did not want him to make the injury worse.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan [I have always lived in Arizona, dad is from Chicago].
by JoeCB1991 on Jan 23, 2011 7:13 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Yes, because he will be needed next week. Oh wait...
Verbose in style, dispersion of thought, procrastination in life.
The artist formerly known as ZAPPA
by Tim Lynch on Jan 23, 2011 10:40 PM EST up reply actions
The big mistake was made by the Bears. They should have had him parked on the bench with his leg elevated or something. It’s stupid to think that matters, but to fans when a guy is walking around the sidelines and standing up for an entire half there are going to be a lot of fans who refuse to accept that his knee was that badly hurt. Not saying that’s right. I’m just saying it’s true.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jan 23, 2011 10:01 PM EST reply actions
Hmmm...I am sure Cutler pleaded to be let back in the game...
Having watched him give up in several games as a Bronco, I have no doubt the decision to keep him out had little to do with his knee and everything to do with his lack of desire.
Verbose in style, dispersion of thought, procrastination in life.
The artist formerly known as ZAPPA
by Tim Lynch on Jan 23, 2011 10:40 PM EST reply actions
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