January 24th, 2011, Tuesday
On the Cover
There is No Tomorrow
There is No Tomorrow
Jay Cutler Leaves NFC Title Game with Injury?
While there has been so much said and written, I will go ahead and share a little of my two cents on the subject....
Even though I don’t want to get myself all caught up in the uproar, I do think the single point most were trying to make and what I myself saw on Sunday; if you ask anyone that follows the game, hell ask any fan or player that loves to play the game (professional or not) there’s always a story or cliché “you’ll have to drag me off the field kicking and screaming.” It’s what we heard growing up following sports from our sports heroes and those that helped to make the games we watch and love as great as they are today.
Even players like former Bronco’s offensive lineman Mark Schlereth tweeted their opinion (“you would have to drag me off the field”) on the subject holding true to what many fans would expect from the greats, the professionals, and true gladiators of the sport. We are just fans and this is what we have come to know, these are world class athletes of their sport that train hard year round for a chance at greatest; and in his moment of opportunity to achieve greatness it appeared Cutler quietly resigned himself to the bench. Whether that was the case or not, for most that is what they saw.
Watching this criticism spread like a wildfire and seeing people take stance on one side or the other, should he have played, was he hurt, I think they are missing the point. I don’t really believe the original criticism stemmed from him not playing or accusing him of not being hurt, it was the perception that he did not look like a quarterback that was badly hurt, but looked more like a guy that didn’t care to be out there.
Fair or not I think some (critical) words were misspoken, but the message was there; it was in Cutler’s complete body language not offering an acceptable explanation as to why he was not out there on the field competing or doing more to help his team.
Fans are creatures of habits and we have seen it too many times, players getting knocked around and somehow, one way or another climbing back out on the field of battle and leaving their heart and soul for their fans and the world to see. We have seen players carried by teammates to remain in the game, the stories of players playing with separated shoulders, sprained knees, busted ankles, and any other kind of injury you can imagine, leaving their blood and guts on the field all for the sake of giving their all.
Right or wrong fans have become accustomed to see this from our heroes, the great players, and those players that aspire to be great, on Sunday one of those players did not deliver what fans have come to expect from a player of his caliber and talent level. If you are going to be great, you have to do great things, rise above the rest, defy the odds, and accomplish the near impossible sometimes.
In his moment of glory Jay Cutler sat lonely on the Bears sideline looking like someone who was disinterested and didn’t have a full grasp of the magnitude of that moment. While it may not be fair to vilify the guy for retreating to safe conditions on the sideline, afterall he did suffer a knee sprain, you can hardly argue with anyone to criticize his lack of effort to help the team.
Remember, this is still a team sport and it’s never about one guy. Even though Cutler’s day had ended it did not mean the Bears day did as well, that’s probably what fans should be more critical about. Maybe he could not be on the field giving his all for his team and the home crowd, but was he on the sideline doing all he could to help his team (granted my point of vision was restricted to network coverage).
By David Ortega
While there has been so much said and written, I will go ahead and share a little of my two cents on the subject....
Even though I don’t want to get myself all caught up in the uproar, I do think the single point most were trying to make and what I myself saw on Sunday; if you ask anyone that follows the game, hell ask any fan or player that loves to play the game (professional or not) there’s always a story or cliché “you’ll have to drag me off the field kicking and screaming.” It’s what we heard growing up following sports from our sports heroes and those that helped to make the games we watch and love as great as they are today.
Even players like former Bronco’s offensive lineman Mark Schlereth tweeted their opinion (“you would have to drag me off the field”) on the subject holding true to what many fans would expect from the greats, the professionals, and true gladiators of the sport. We are just fans and this is what we have come to know, these are world class athletes of their sport that train hard year round for a chance at greatest; and in his moment of opportunity to achieve greatness it appeared Cutler quietly resigned himself to the bench. Whether that was the case or not, for most that is what they saw.
Watching this criticism spread like a wildfire and seeing people take stance on one side or the other, should he have played, was he hurt, I think they are missing the point. I don’t really believe the original criticism stemmed from him not playing or accusing him of not being hurt, it was the perception that he did not look like a quarterback that was badly hurt, but looked more like a guy that didn’t care to be out there.
Fair or not I think some (critical) words were misspoken, but the message was there; it was in Cutler’s complete body language not offering an acceptable explanation as to why he was not out there on the field competing or doing more to help his team.
Fans are creatures of habits and we have seen it too many times, players getting knocked around and somehow, one way or another climbing back out on the field of battle and leaving their heart and soul for their fans and the world to see. We have seen players carried by teammates to remain in the game, the stories of players playing with separated shoulders, sprained knees, busted ankles, and any other kind of injury you can imagine, leaving their blood and guts on the field all for the sake of giving their all.
Right or wrong fans have become accustomed to see this from our heroes, the great players, and those players that aspire to be great, on Sunday one of those players did not deliver what fans have come to expect from a player of his caliber and talent level. If you are going to be great, you have to do great things, rise above the rest, defy the odds, and accomplish the near impossible sometimes.
In his moment of glory Jay Cutler sat lonely on the Bears sideline looking like someone who was disinterested and didn’t have a full grasp of the magnitude of that moment. While it may not be fair to vilify the guy for retreating to safe conditions on the sideline, afterall he did suffer a knee sprain, you can hardly argue with anyone to criticize his lack of effort to help the team.
Remember, this is still a team sport and it’s never about one guy. Even though Cutler’s day had ended it did not mean the Bears day did as well, that’s probably what fans should be more critical about. Maybe he could not be on the field giving his all for his team and the home crowd, but was he on the sideline doing all he could to help his team (granted my point of vision was restricted to network coverage).
By David Ortega
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