A lot of football fans outside the Land of Lincoln have been slightly puzzled at the circus atmosphere that has followed Jay Cutler since he arrived in Chicago earlier this year. People that watched his somewhat ignominious divorce from the Broncos or his leading the team to an 8-8 record might have rightfully wondered what all the fuss was about. Sure, the guy has talent, but it’s just one player, right?
No. Well, yes, it is just one player. But to understand why Chicago fans have acted like Jay Cutler is the second coming of Joe Montana, despite the fact he hasn’t, y’know, won anything, you have to understand the depths Chicago has gone to avoid starting a competent quarterback.
There has never been such a sad group of anonymous football players as the Chicago Bears quarterbacks since the departure of Jim McMahon. The Bears blog BEARS GOGGLES ON has put together the definitive list of the Bears’ QBs since 1992 (during which time Brett Favre has, of course, not missed a game), and after reading it, you’ll understand why Bears fans see Jay Cutler as a Football Messiah. Here’s the list:
- Mike Tomczak
- Doug Flutie
- Jim Harbaugh
- Peter Tom Willis
- Will Furrer
- Erik Kramer
- Steve Walsh
- Dave Krieg
- Rick Mirer
- Steve Stenstrom
- Moses Moreno
- Shane Matthews
- Cade McNown
- Jim Miller
- Chris Chandler
- Henry Burris
- Kordell Stewart
- Jonathan Quinn
- Craig Krenzel
- Chad Hutchinson
- Kyle Orton
- Rex Grossman
- Brian Griese
Over half of those names are famous only for being part of the answer to the trivia question of who all has played QB for the Bears since McMahon left. Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman are the only two of those twenty three quarterbacks still in the National Football League. Doug Flutie was run out of town on a (very small, mulleted) rail. I would say that’s incredible, but given the Bears’ performance with most of those stiffs under center, it’s really not hard to believe at all.
So next time you hear a Bears fan waxing poetic about Jay Cutler, the franchise quarterback of the Bears and the savior of offense in Chicago, cut him or her a little slack. You have no idea what they’ve been through.
6:35 pm on September 13th, 2009
Ya, we’ve been limited to rooting for the running backs and defense. I’ll admit I wasn’t jumping for joy about them hiring a whiner like he seemed, but, we don’t hear everything, so here’s hoping he can do something with the receivers he has.