There was no doubting the talent of Jake Plummer.  Some think he was the best quarterback to come out of the PAC-10 the past 20 years, Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart included.  It would be hard to blame them.  Plummer had Arizona State 52 seconds away from winning a National Championship, only to be stymied by a last second Ohio State touchdown in the 1996 Rose Bowl.  

Think about that, and think about the players he had around him.  Jake had all the physical tools needed to be a very, very good quarterback in the NFL.   It was all that talent that had Shanny intrigued enough to give Plummer $40 million over 6 years despite his awful record for the Cardinals.  What Shanyn found out, unfortunately, is that Jake didn't get it.  He didn't want to be a full-time NFL quarterback.  Jake loved the game, no doubt, but didn't LIVE the game.  To be successful, at the highest level, you have to live, eat, breathe football.

Thus the selection of Jay Cutler in the draft last season, and the much ballyhooed fall of Jake, rise of Jay.  Like Jake, there is no doubting Cuteler's talent, but until you get to see a guy, to watch how he works and to hear how he talks, you wonder if he gets it.  So far, so good for Cutler.

Jay hasn't talked often, but when he has he's been impressive.  Yesterday was another impressive showing for Cutler in the media.  Perhaps most telling is what other people say about Cutler, and his view of the game.


One to speak highly of Cutler is quarterback Preston Parsons, one of Cutler's closest friends, "We were here a month early doing stuff by ourselves, you can see he loves football. The limelight and money, you can do a lot of fun stuff with it. But I know he's turned down tons of (paid appearances) that could have been a lot of fun to go do, but he stayed here working out."

Jack Cutler, Jay's father, also knows what makes his son tick, "That is the thing, that's where he can really stay grounded because he has not accomplished what he wants to accomplish. He had a nice first year, but he's not even close to what he wants to be. I think he keeps that in the back of his head. He's had a good five games, but he has a lot bigger goals than that."

I had the opportunity to meet Jay's parents in Cleveland the night before the Browns game.  Mr. and Mrs. Cutler were great, and spoke at length with myself and several other Broncos fans.  While Jack isn't a big fan of blogs like this(maybe he'll change his mind some day) I can see where Jay received his priorities, and any concerns I had about another quarterback leading the Broncos were quickly eased.  Jay gets it, becuase his parents get it.

Who knows what the future holds.  As far as I am concerned, I haven't been this optimistic heading into a season since 1998, and Jay Cutler is a big reason for it, becuase he wants to be great, and is prepared to do what it takes to obtain it.

You can take a look at the website for Jay Cutler's Foundation here.