An open letter to Jay Cutler

by Linmoo on Mar 3, 2009 12:48 AM MST

Dear Jay,

I'm writing this letter to you in the hopes that you will listen to one lifelong Broncos fan. By now, you are no doubt "laying low" in your attempt to force the Broncos organization to be up front with you on their intentions with you at quarterback. Boy, what a weekend you must have had. Very few, if any, honest fans of the NFL believe that you are in any way on the same level as Matt Cassel, and many fans are glad that such a ridiculous trade did not go through. I think you have an amazing talent and competitive spirit that will one day make you a Superbowl champion. I hope that you will do so with the Denver Broncos.

That said, someone has to tell you the truth. The truth is that the emotions that are driving you to be a champion are also keeping you from attaining the goal. Too often, you press into decisions that are heavily weighted by your feelings at the moment and it affects your judgement. This occurs both on the field, where defenders use your frustration against you, and off the field, where the media quickly grabs a sound bite and spreads it all over the world.

You're a young guy, and as such, its easy to be fooled into believing that you can marshall all your talents and personal traits with perfect execution. Maturity occurs when you realize this is not possible, that you do have flaws, and that you have to rise above the intensely competitive emotions you feel to make rational decisions that will give you the best possible chance of success.

Case in point, holding out on the Broncos now that the post-non-trade debacle is over is counterproductive in every sense. You will be villified in the media. You will leave your teamates questioning your leadership. And worst of all, if you do manage to be traded, it will likely be to a team with a much smaller chance of actually winning football games. You gain nothing by not sitting down with the Broncos and working this out. You gain respect from your critics by quickly putting this behind you. You gain trust from your teammates who desperately want to go to battle with you. And if you manage to win big this season, you will earn both money in future contracts and success as a top quarterback in the NFL.

Jay, it's time to be the bigger man. It's time to become a true professional athlete. It's time to come back to the Broncos.

A fan among many others,

Linmoo

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

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Comments

You are right...

about emotions affecting his judgment. I think a few folks on this site could also benefit from your advice.

by Kapiti on Mar 3, 2009 12:54 AM MST reply actions

Nice...

Darren Bennett... check
Ben Graham... check
Sav Rocca... check
Now if only we can find an Australian who can run and tackle in the NFL and show these Yanks what we're made of.

by orange&blue_aussie on Mar 3, 2009 2:54 AM MST reply actions

Excellently said.

I think it’s too much to hope he reads this, but he should. Rec’d.

Aue tehan-deoes shaj do’ ai poyene slueden!

by Silverblood on Mar 3, 2009 6:25 AM MST reply actions

Good letter, but this is a give and take too

McD and X need to man up as well…

Actually, I thought Woody wrote an excellent article today:
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_11822672

by tunga77 on Mar 3, 2009 7:30 AM MST reply actions

Good article and pretty much sums things up.

2007-08 MVP: Kobe Bryant

Cutler's 4th qtr/OT game winning drives: 9

by weazel on Mar 3, 2009 6:22 PM MST up reply actions

Nice letter man!

I hope we can end all of the talk and get into free agency. I am one of those emotional dudes….happy to admit it…..thats what life is about. Different folks make the world go round and keep it interesting.
I am trying not to comment on the weekends activities.
Its like riding an exercise bike: Gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere!
Peace.

Those that cant coach, compete!
Failing to plan is planning to fail.

by boydy2669 on Mar 3, 2009 8:03 AM MST reply actions

I especially agree

with the statement that “you are in any way on the same level as Matt Cassel”. Matt Cassel is much better. These QBs had their faceoff. The score was 41-7.

by NDbronco on Mar 3, 2009 9:38 AM MST reply actions

Umm.

I do hope you’re not entirely serious. There’s a little something called defense. We don’t play any.

Aue tehan-deoes shaj do’ ai poyene slueden!

by Silverblood on Mar 3, 2009 9:42 AM MST up reply actions

Not entirely serious

I think it’s fair to say that was a combination of fumble mania and terrible defense. It was mainly a knock on the implication that Matt Cassel isn’t fit to hold Cutler’s jock strap. From what I saw of Cassel, I thought he was good and I think we would have been fine with him. He couldn’t possibly have worse touch than Cutler.

by NDbronco on Mar 3, 2009 9:47 AM MST reply actions

I too think that we would have been fine with Cassel

He would have had a great O-line, a talented corps of wide receivers, and he’d have been playing in the exact same offense with a coach he knows very well. In fact, I wouldn’t have protested (too much) if we’d gotten him (although yes, I do love Jay and would have had to put myself through the separation period, which would have been tough). But the way it went about was what was maladroit. What angered Jay, and Broncos fans, was that it looked like McD didn’t trust his new guy to learn his new system, even though the new guy was in fact the old guy and looked to as the franchise, and went running to get his old guy instead, who’d be the new guy…

Confusing? Yeah. But there you have it. :)

Aue tehan-deoes shaj do’ ai poyene slueden!

by Silverblood on Mar 3, 2009 10:15 AM MST up reply actions

I agree 100% Silverblood.

The new big guy should look at what the old guy offers before bringing in the new guy (the old guy to the big guy) at the expense of the old guy. I’m just glad Jay’s the guy, and there ARE no “old” guys. Their combined age is smaller than that of Al Davis.

-Harvey J. Neptune

"Practice doesn't make perfect. PERFECT practice makes perfect." - Vince Lombardi

by HarvJNep2n on Mar 3, 2009 10:08 PM MST up reply actions

Would you trade Kansas for him?

Those that cant coach, compete!
Failing to plan is planning to fail.

by boydy2669 on Mar 3, 2009 10:16 AM MST up reply actions

Yep

by NDbronco on Mar 3, 2009 12:53 PM MST up reply actions

Also, don't forget Cutler jammed his finger on his throwing hand on the first series...

His passes were seriously affected for the game… didn’t they take him out for a few series too? I can’t quite remember… I’ve tried to block out that “game” from my memory. =/

by tunga77 on Mar 3, 2009 10:40 AM MST up reply actions

Yeah, he would’ve been out longer, but Ramsey managed to get hurt too, so Cutler had to go back in before he was ready… If you go back and watch the highlights (would NOT recommend it, that game was ugly), Cutler’s throws were wobbly all night from the hurt finger. It was his index finger on his throwing hand IIRC, which is nearly impossible to throw without…

I’m in pain just thinking about that game… Wow was that game bad…

by scooter17 on Mar 4, 2009 4:56 PM MST up reply actions

yeah, right

Cassel is a system quarterback. He’s smart. He can make reads. He can throw a check down and screen pass. He can’t scramble. He can’t throw a dart into coverage. He can’t improvise. And most of all, he’s not a leader. He’s basically Brian Griese, and we all know how well that worked out.

by Linmoo on Mar 4, 2009 12:50 PM MST up reply actions

actually

Cassel’s a pretty good scrambler, I was surprised to see it, but as last season wore on he made many big plays with his legs. Other than that though, I agree 100% with your post…

by scooter17 on Mar 4, 2009 4:55 PM MST up reply actions

As doctor Phil would say

“Somebody needs to step up and be a hero.”

Concision in style, precision in thought, decision in life.

by Jeremy Bolander on Mar 3, 2009 10:02 AM MST reply actions

"I need a hero!

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong
And he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight

SOMETIMES YOU NEED SOME BONNIE TYLER!!!

Those that cant coach, compete!
Failing to plan is planning to fail.

by boydy2669 on Mar 3, 2009 10:20 AM MST up reply actions

LOL!

There is only One Moment—this moment—the Eternal Moment of Now

by sirsam on Mar 3, 2009 10:33 AM MST up reply actions

Perfect! and rec

by ThorpeBroncosfan on Mar 3, 2009 10:16 AM MST reply actions

The other perspective

Jay is a lot smarter than people give him credit for.

My sense is Jay has been slow to warm up to McD from the beginning, so McD considered trading him for Cassell. Then when Jay found out about it, he was most upset cause they were sneaky about it and lied. So without absolutely no trust at all in his coach, Jay actually wanted to force a trade by exposing the backhanded dealings of McD.

Bottom line is yes, a lot of people perceive Jay as spoiled and needing to grow up. But even more people perceive McD as making a stupid mistake and then not coming clean about it. Most fans and execs consider Jay a top 10 talent. I am not sure McD would be considered a top ten NFL coach at this point. He is totally unproven as a head coach. So considering all the damage done for both sides, McD is the bigger loser in this fiasco, and he is the one who will have to eat crow.

Sure if Jay gets traded it will be to a rebuilding team, but hey if you take off the orange and blue colored glasses people, then that is what Denver is at this point. McD has undone the one positive thing Denver had going for it – a top offense. Not too many other teams have worse defense, worse special teams, or a worse running game than Denver had. So honestly Jay going to another team, really would not be that big of a change. Jay would still get paid well, and at least in his own mind he would be going somewhere he is wanted and where he trusts the coach. I think Jay has so much talent no matter where he would go, within a year or two he would be back at the top of the stats.

McD on the other hand: If he loses JC then the Broncos will be in the running for a top 5 draft pick in 2010 and his job will be in jeopardy. McD is too cocky for his own good, and much like most first time head coaches he is making some big mistakes.

If Jay does not get traded but he continues to dislike McD, then he will play as he has said for himself and his teammates. He will take a step back this year in his production no matter what, due to learning a brand new offense, but he will still be an overall threat other teams worry about, and he will still have decent numbers. But what will happen if McD continues to be so cutthroat is Jay will play out his two years and not re-sign with Denver, and he will be gone, possibly to the team Shanny will be coaching by then. Once again McD will suffer and his job will be in jeopardy if he has not lost it already by then.

So to me everyone who seems to think Jay is the problem, that Jay needs to grow up, that Jay has no choices, that he is only hurting himself, is all wrong. Jay has a lot more leverage and a lot more options than McD. McD has to make this thing work withing two years, or else he is toast. He will be just another loser head coach from the Billacheat tree. So he needs to figure out that the only way he will pull this off is to develop some loyalty and relationship with his players. They need to want to lay it on the line for him, and so far he has really diminished chances that will occur this year. So someone ought to right an “open letter” to McD.

by The Gun Young on Mar 4, 2009 11:25 PM MST reply actions

McD is on the hot seat

I agree that McD is very much to blame for the start of this whole mess. I honestly think that he has only one thing on his mind, and that is “how to win the most football games THIS year”. To him, he has to teach Jay the system, and he’s probably going to lose some games getting Jay to make the right reads, throw the check down or screen, and instill some discipline into his game. Cassel has already learned these things in the Patriot system, and to McD, that makes him more valuable now.

The problem is that McD isn’t thinking long term at all. I believe he really WANTS to be the exception to the “old Patriot coach curse” right now, and that has him snapping up every Tom, Dick, and Lamont Jordan he can get his hands on. He didn’t want to have to deal with reteaching the system. He wanted someone to just run the system. McD has put himself on the hot seat with this FA binge, and he’ll be the first one out the door if it all falls flat.

McD just needs to level with Jay. Lying about wanting to trade him is Mangini-esque (if that is a word), and it absolutely undermines a coach-QB relationship. McD needs to make the first move since he started this mess, but Jay has to want to get past all this too. Dragging it out longer is just a complete waste of time. and Jay’s emotional immaturity goes beyond just this situation (the point of the original post).

by Linmoo on Mar 5, 2009 1:55 AM MST up reply actions