Jay Cutler: My View

I reported yesterday on the ‘Drive with Jack’ & ‘Monday Night Live’ that the Chicago Bears would be keeping Jay Cutler for this season. Rightfully they should - well more like they don’t have a choice. They are financially handcuffed him. That could be a good thing in my opinion.

I was told that the Bears’ new offensive coordinator, Adam Gase, and Cutler have been spending a lot of time together working on the team’s new playbook. For a quarterback who’s future was unknown until a little under 24-hours ago, he’s begun showing this organization that he his dedicated to being a student of the game, correcting his mistakes, and striving to be a better version of himself everyday. Despite this past season, I have a lot of confidence in Cutler.

Much like Brandon Marshall, I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know Cutler, on and off the field. The charity work that Jay does with the Jay Cutler Foundation, which is dedicated to giving scholarships to kids who have Type-1 diabetes (for those of you not familiar, Jay Cutler has type-1 diabetes that he was diagnosed with when he first came into the league until 2006). Jay raises millions of dollars each year to help find preventative medicines for children with diabetes and fund early detection programs. Mark Block, Cutler’s agent and President of the Jay Cutler Foundation, helped shed the light on this for me.

When I first started covering the Chicago Bears, I was among the many media members who thought Jay Cutler was the ‘I don’t care’ quarterback. Then I met Mark Block, who introduced me to Jay Cutler the person, not Jay Cutler the player. I have to say that after I spent real time getting to know Jay, I was captivated by him and his passion he has for not only football, but for using his stardom to give back and help, especially with the diabetic community. I was invited out to the last two of Cutler’s charity events he’s held in Chicago. The first one was private. However, this past year, Jay opened up and held a ‘beach-volleyball’ tournament on the shores of Lake Michigan. Chicagoians came out to help support the foundation and helped the Foundation raise over $3 million dollars.

I may be a little biased when it comes to defending Jay Cutler, but not many people in the sports media have gotten the chance to know Jay like I have. I have full confidence that this man understands that this very well could be his last chance to prove himself in the NFL. He is going to take full advantage of the opportunity the Bears have given him. I have a feeling, whether the Bears make the playoffs or not, you will see a Jay Cutler you have not seen before this season. A Jay Cuter many felt he could become.