Some Precedence and Hopefully Some Perspective

by pshin8670 on Mar 16, 2009 2:18 PM MDT

Look, most of us are absolutely engrossed in any little breath that is breathed that's within a city block of this Cutler / McDaniels saga. I too have been guilty of refreshing this site or doing a Google search on "Cutler" every hour just to feed my need for the latest news and/or commentary which may or may not carry any weight surrounding this soap opera.

And then I stopped....

You see, I live in Los Angeles and I came to realization this morning how nonsensical my behavior has been over the past 2 weeks when I drove into work and saw a big Kobe Bryant billboard. I immediately flashed back to the summer of 2007 when this Laker town was literally held hostage due to the shenaningans orchestrated by the crown jewel of LA sports.

Being a minority non-Laker fan, I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity the fans and sports media were putting themselves through as they were dissecting every word that was supposedly said by Kobe and Lakers management. I think back to when Kobe went on a radio rampage by calling into local sports call show after local sports call show demanding his need to get out of LA. And then there was the infamous YouTube video where Kobe was standing in a mall parking lot and throwing Lakers management and his teammates (namely Andrew Bynum) under the bus in hopes of forcing a "gun pointed to my head" reaction to initiate a trade.

The town was split and people were echoing the exact same arguments that we have been spewing. In one corner of the room there were fans who put 100% of the blame on management and demanded that they bend over and do whatever it took to make Kobe happy and keep him in a Laker uni. In the other corner, there was a growing group of fans and non-fans who said, "To hell with him...if he doesn't want to be a Laker, good luck succeeding anywhere else!". What really stood out for me during that ordeal was what GM Mitch Kupchak consistently said....unless the Lakers are presented with a trade package attractive enough to move the best player in the NBA, Kobe Bryant will remain a Laker through the course of his contractual obligation.

You know what happened next? A few months went by and then training camp started. A reluctant Kobe reported to camp on time and participated in all activities. Sure there were still trade rumors being peppered here and there but before you knew it, the 2007/2008 Laker season was underway with a still low-key, if not subdued, Kobe Bryant starting at the shooting guard. Next thing you know, the Lakers are winning and Kobe eventually wins his first MVP where he proudly proclaims himself a Laker for life. It was like the circus from 10 months prior never happened.

Look, I'm not saying Jay Cutler is Kobe Bryant by any means. But what I do know is that by way of his contract, Jay Cutler is a Denver Bronco for the next 3 years. And unless a too-good-to-be-true trade proposal is sitting in front of the Broncos, we should expect Cutler to keep his word and attend all mandatory team activities and be prepared to help the team succeed. Hopefully that will create some momentum in the offseason and carry forward into the 2009 season and start producing positive results through smart play in an improved McDaniels run system and ultimately produce Ws.

With winning comes clarity...and hopefully that clarity will speak to Jay the same way it spoke to Kobe here in LA. And if it doesn't reach that point, then we should entrust management to make a move which will make the team better for years to come even without a Jay Cutler distributing the ball.

Hope that helps you as it did me this morning.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR

Tweet Comment 26 comments | 22 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

It does

Recommended….

"You're slow. You're not a running back, and you're not a running back for a reason." ---a former mastermind head coach....

by Broncs Cheer on Mar 16, 2009 2:32 PM MDT reply actions

Very very good post

I to started coming to this same realization as I sat here last night contemplateing the whole situation. My gosh 3 years is an eternaity when you think about it, and anything could happen. I have a sneaky suspicion that this is going to all work out in the end and could possibly even strengthen the team on down the road. I am no longer hysterical on this subject and am now just to the stage of kicking back and letting what ever happens happen. In the end this team is going to get better one way or another and I sincerely belive that. Good post it did make me feel better.

by broncosorbust on Mar 16, 2009 2:35 PM MDT reply actions

Well said!

by SlowWhiteGuy on Mar 16, 2009 2:35 PM MDT reply actions

This helps

I remember all the talk about Kobe specifically rumors about him being traded to the Nuggets. It seemed like he was all but gone in LA, so this does help me in this these hard times in Broncoland. Hopefully everything works out, I’m trying to be optimistic.

by bgreg1012 on Mar 16, 2009 2:36 PM MDT reply actions

nice post...Lakers suck. Go Kings(hardy har!)

Verbose in style, dispersion of thought, procrastination in life.

by Tim Lynch on Mar 16, 2009 2:38 PM MDT reply actions

Needed that!

Thanks, and rec’d

Welcome Aboard, Josh McDaniels!

by Colorado_Kitten on Mar 16, 2009 2:41 PM MDT reply actions

AMEN and AMEN!

Rec’d and hugs all around! I think many of us needed that dose of reality about now.

~Davus.X~
Est. 1967
Bleeding Orange and Blue for 42 years
Newest Resident of La-La-Land! Mike Clark for President!
13-3 BABY!

by Davus.X on Mar 16, 2009 2:53 PM MDT reply actions

Great Post pshin!! Rec'd

I really feel that if Jay can just make it to practice football fever will set in and this problem will begin to fade.

Great comparison with the Kobe story.

13-3 Baby!!

The best defense is a good offense!

by Mike Clark on Mar 16, 2009 2:58 PM MDT reply actions

Hope you are correct, but...

I’m starting to believe that this whole thing has been orchestrated by Cutler and that had the Cassel drama never happened, something else would have led to this exact point. If you pull together all that’s available out there, its hard to believe that this is about Cutler feeling jilted. It starts with Cutler quietly requesting a trade after Shannahan was fired. Denver said no. Meanwhile, the TB deal gets the most play in the early reports. Why? Because if you read between the lines in Paige’s column and Peter King’s MMQB, you learn that Bus Cook leaked the trade rumors. Somebody else I deemed credible (a football writer), but for the life of me can’t remember for citation purposes here, also suggested that an NFL insider claimed that Cook approached at least the Buccaneers and suggested Cutler was available. Thus Tampa comes knocking and a scandal is born. Couple that timeline with Cutler’s fully disproportionate snit and the completely different assessments of the conference call and the face-to-face, and you are left to conclude that Cutler entered both meetings with an agenda and did so probably to save face. This all means that Cutler, for reasons only he knows, decided to quit on his teammates and fans well before his “feelings got hurt”.

I no longer believe that Jay Cutler has, or ever has had intentions to stay in Denver once Shannahan left.

by PredominantlyOrange on Mar 16, 2009 3:08 PM MDT reply actions

That's exactly the opinion I expressed in a couple of recent posts

As I wrote in one of them, “I know college players often retain an intense loyalty to a dismissed coach, even if the guy turns out to be a convicted serial murderer, and leave the school that dismissed him. . . .I’ve only recently begun to wonder if Jay has been bent on leaving ever since the firing but needs to feel justified in doing so. Hence the drama. He’s willing, but the coach keeps pushing him away. In that case nothing McDaniels could have done or not done would have made a difference. Having said that, another thought intrudes. If what Klis said is true maybe Belichick, knowing a quarterback tends to be loyal to the man who developed him, knowing you have to have a quarterback who’s committed to you, and knowing Cassel could do the job, was trying to do McDaniels a favor.” And in the other: “It might be that the real tragedy here is simply that McDaniels didn’t pull the trigger on a trade for Cassel, and thus get a capable quarterback as commited to him as Cutler was to Shanahan/Bates. The best remedy, as unlikely as it now looks, might be a straight up swap with Kansas City, even if the Broncos have to sweeten the pot and thus "get taken" due to the deterioration of the situation here. I can see the downside to that, giving Cutler two shots at us every year, but I think the upside, McDaniels having his man here in Denver, more than outweighs it.” I, too, suspect Cutler has been estranged since Shanahan was let go and all the drama since has been about justifying it – to us, and maybe most of all to himself.

"In the empty spaces - lacunae, vacuums, pauses, voids, black holes - new things begin. We are born anew from the unexplored space, the badlands, the outlaw territory." - Sam Keen

by spock on Mar 17, 2009 1:17 PM MDT up reply actions

Very nice piece

"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
"Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem" - Duffman
"McDaniels must go!" - Broncoman

by Broncoman on Mar 16, 2009 3:13 PM MDT reply actions

Even for a Laker fan

Go Nuggets!

"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
"Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem" - Duffman
"McDaniels must go!" - Broncoman

by Broncoman on Mar 16, 2009 3:14 PM MDT up reply actions

How dare you...

I quote from above:

Being a minority non-Laker fan

I hate the Lakers. Hate them! I was the one guy in my high school who got butt hurt when Magic hit that baby hook against the Celtics.

by pshin8670 on Mar 16, 2009 3:20 PM MDT up reply actions

Sorry, I just saw Lakers, lakers lakers, and I mised that part

I retract my above statement

"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
"Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem" - Duffman
"McDaniels must go!" - Broncoman

by Broncoman on Mar 16, 2009 4:03 PM MDT up reply actions

Except I still say go Nuggets

"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
"Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem" - Duffman
"McDaniels must go!" - Broncoman

by Broncoman on Mar 16, 2009 4:03 PM MDT up reply actions

What's a Nugget?

;-)

Yet must thou sail after knowledge, knowing less than drugged beasts.

pthengometha thasson

by bradley on Mar 16, 2009 4:41 PM MDT up reply actions

ask Ricky Williams

or anyone in Boulder

by Royal With Cheese on Mar 16, 2009 5:38 PM MDT up reply actions

BWAHAHAHAHA

~Davus.X~
Est. 1967
Bleeding Orange and Blue for 42 years
Newest Resident of La-La-Land! Mike Clark for President!
13-3 BABY!

by Davus.X on Mar 16, 2009 7:44 PM MDT up reply actions

Thanks.

by precisiontint on Mar 16, 2009 3:19 PM MDT reply actions

Wow, great comparison!

As far as the situations go. I’m a Laker fan (check my name, I’m not from Denver lol) and was feeling what I feel now when that whole situation was going down. You just made my day pshin!

by ohiobronco on Mar 16, 2009 5:01 PM MDT reply actions

Merci!

by bxmbronc on Mar 16, 2009 5:05 PM MDT reply actions

Rec'd.

I feel exactly the same today. This whole drama isn’t worth my precious little life.

I look forward to the couple playoff runs with Jay as our QB. And if not, I trust the coaching staff to get the most out of the team we already have plus whoever happens to be the QB. I mean, I remember a time when the Broncos went to the AFC Championship game, and it wasn’t Jay Cutler lining up behind the Center.

"I need you so bad, magic woman."

by Tempestuous Binary on Mar 17, 2009 8:28 AM MDT reply actions

Wow...

Excellent post, pshin – thanks so much for the perspective! Rec’d!

by Douglas A. Lee on Mar 17, 2009 9:47 AM MDT reply actions

Great perspective

thanks for this post. My only quibble — or at least question — is, wasn’t Kobe at least fine with Phil Jackson, his coach? I know they had some differences and maybe I’m mis-remembering that (and, sorry guys, I am a Laker fan, hangs head in shame, a Laker and Bronco fan, I’m a weirdo I know), but I think that’s one difference. Kobe was okay going back to play for Jackson but Cutler is at least acting like it’s all about the coach.

(Kobe also wanted the Lakers to show they were planning on improving their roster; they did that as the year went on. Cutler should be able to see that his team has clearly already been improved this off season.)

I guess the equivalent would be if Kobe was like, “Trade me to the Wizards, I don’t care!” because Cutler could end up in Detroit.

Anyway, thanks this is really good perspective check here. I hope we see a similar outcome.

by underdog on Mar 17, 2009 12:41 PM MDT reply actions

Yes, it does help put things in perspective

The contract situation means that, unless Cutler is really around the bend and refuses to attend the camps and sits out the season, he has three years to get over it.

"In the empty spaces - lacunae, vacuums, pauses, voids, black holes - new things begin. We are born anew from the unexplored space, the badlands, the outlaw territory." - Sam Keen

by spock on Mar 17, 2009 1:22 PM MDT reply actions