Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011
6:14 p.m.
By John Mullin
CSNChicago.com
You want to be done with the Jay Cutler nonsense but it just keeps a-comin.
Of all the aspects of the Jay Cutler Affair, the most difficult to understand was the trashing he received at the hands of his NFL colleagues. It was seriously obvious that so much of the venom was oozing from dislike for Cutler; it was personal, not professional.
But even that doesnt explain the level of the antipathy. Why so personal?
Detroit Lions linebacker Zack Follett may have the answer. Now, bear in mind that in the same radio interview, chronicled in the Detroit Free Press, Follett dubs his own franchise quarterback, Matthew Stafford, a china doll because of Staffords injure-ability.
Follett, who finished the year on IR with a neck injury, did his best Maurice Jones-Drew backdown imitation, going on his Twitter account to clarify, Thats my bad on the China Doll comment.
NFL
But before that he gave a look at even though football may in the end be a business, it is still eminently personal.
I think the way he carries himself. We played him the first game of the season. He kind of has a swagger about him that. a little cockiness that it kind of makes defensive players kind of chomp at the mouth. Were ready to get at him. Our defensive coordinator, Gunther Cunningham, he wasnt a big fan of Cutler.
Throw that in with a segment of opinion viewing Cutler as a spoiled punk for the way he engineered his exit from Denver (which just about any working stiff would do from their job if they didnt like where they worked and had some juice to force a change), and you have the nub of it:
You dont like somebody? Then theyre guilty until proven innocent.
Logical thinking
The Cutler fallout has obscured the naming of the 2010 All-Pro team, which included Julius Peppers as one defensive end and Devin Hester as the returner. Chris Harris and Brian Urlacher were named to the second team.
Colleague Tom Curran out east at CSNNE.com, our Comcast New England operation, takes you on an insightful tour of his thinking behind each ballot he cast. Tom also tells you which way he voted and why when it was a different direction than the eventual winner.
Good stuff. And heres a hint: Urlacher didnt miss First Team by much.
A new low every hour
Just when you think youve heard just about every slime-ball comment and insult of Jay Cutler, now you have former Packer Greg Koch weighing in (pun intended).
Koch tells a Houston radio show that he saw Cutler as the X-factor (now there is some pithy insight) but I just never thought that his tampon would fall out on national TV.
Cutler was riding the stationary bike on the sideline like a little girl, Koch observed from his position as a savvy exercise therapist. Then putting his plastic stethoscope around his neck and chrome reflector head-band on, Dr. Koch prescribed treatment for Cutlers torn knee ligament, You can brace that thing.
The former tackle blocked for quarterbacks so he knows all of them well enough to contradict the notion that trainers (or perhaps, oh, I dont know, maybe a head coach) could shut one down. Oh, bull Nobody wouldve kept Tom Brady off the field if he wanted to play. Nobody wouldve kept Peyton Manning off the field.
Never mind that Cutler did come back in. I told you its a no-strings-attached league.
(Oh, and as far as putting the URL here for linking to the broadcast, Ill pass. This guy doesnt need any more attention that he just got here.)
John "Moon" Mullin is CSNChicago.com's Bears Insider, and appears regularly on Bears Postgame Live and Chicago Tribune Live. Follow Moon on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Bears information.