Yesterday was a glorious day to be a Packer fan. Not only is Green Bay going to the Super Bowl, they’re going at the Bears’ expense. But I was shocked and disappointed at the way Chicago fans turned on their own quarterback.
Jay Cutler injured his knee sometime in the second quarter, but finished the half. After playing one series in the third quarter, he left the game and didn’t return.
After the loss, Bears fans were seen burning their Cutler jerseys outside the stadium and in various streets throughout Chicago. Barely an hour after the game was over, Cutler’s knee had its own satirical Twitter account, sending out juvenile, poorly-spelled insults. Almost the entire country was questioning Cutler’s toughness and his will to win. After all, he was able to walk around on the sidelines and didn’t appear to be limping. Why wasn’t he in the game?
They should not have been so quick to judge:
Veteran center Olin Kreutz said he was surprised Cutler stayed in the game as long as he did with the injured knee.
“It was shaking right after he took the hit and walked back into the huddle,”Kreutz said. “It was swinging. I knew that one of his ligaments probably went.”
Kreutz was right. Cutler tore his MCL. He told reporters that his knee joint felt unnaturally loose and “structurally unsound.” It’s hard to imagine him being able to compete at a championship level with that kind of injury. Putting aside the possibility of long-term bodily harm, staying in the game would have probably have hurt his team, not helped it.
While his knee will recover in time for next season, one wonders about his mind. In the locker room, after reporters told him what people were saying about him, Cutler offered a “no comment” and tears were visibly swelling in his eyes. He knew he did all he could, but nobody else seemed to believe that. Not only had his own fans turned on him, his peers around the league had, too.
Every team’s fans boo their own players once in a while. And usually, it’s deserved. But Chicago fans seemed almost eager to rip into Cutler. They’ll still be booing him come training camp and the preseason, and maybe into the regular season, too. No matter how much Cutler tries to block that out, it has to hurt. It could well affect his on-field performance.
This is not the way to treat the first decent quarterback the team has had since the 1980s. I can’t help but feel bad for Cutler, even if he does play for a team I don’t like.
In the meantime, here’s hoping the Packers prevail over the Steelers in the Super Bowl, and that sports fans learn that supporting their players yields better results than burying them.
Inertia Wins! 