Cutler - a leader?

[transplant]

Everyone knows that Jay Cutler has all the PHYSICAL "tools." The questions on him are above the shoulders. He's been called petulant, immature and a "me-first-guy" by many in Denver.

There has been a long line of NFL QBs with all the physical tools, but who couldn't cut it when it came to leadership. Jeff George may be the poster boy for this group, and in fact, some media types are currently comparing Cutler to George.

Cutler clearly has a pretty big ego for a young guy. While it appeared that he would accept the firing of his highly-respected and QB-friendly head coach as well as a QB coach with whom he'd developed a rapport, he absolutely refused to swallow the idea that his new head coach preferred Matt Cassell over him to lead the team. He didn't really whine about it, but instead told the new coach, GM and owner to go screw themselves and find themselves another boy.

Let's make no mistake about it. What Cutler did was clearly driven by his ego. This concerns some people who want their young multi-millionaire athletes to just play hard and shut up except to spout the occasional "whatever's best for the team" cliche.

That ain't Cutler, but that doesn't mean he's not going to be a good leader. In fact, a healthy-sized ego may be a pre-requisite for leadership. The meek may inherit the earth, but we don't want them in charge when things get tough. We want the guy who thinks he can do anything and is willing to personally lay it all on the line to prove it.

Jay Cutler is a stud quarterback and he knows it. Yeah, so did Jeff George, but that's where the similarities end because Jay Cutler is also a football player, a good teammate and a tough guy...that's why he's going to do just fine as the leader of the Bears offense for the next 8 years or so.

[Chewie]

Well, to be fair, the problem with the Broncos wasn't all about the Cassel deal. He was promised by the owner that the offensive coaching staff would stay in place even with a new head coach in place and that turned out to be a lie. Pat Bowlen developed convenient amnesia about the conversation.

Hopefully he's learned from the incident and he admits he'd do things differently. The fact is - it's a clean slate here and I'm willing to reserve judgment on the leadership aspect on what I see with my own eyes with him in a Bears uniform. From my understanding he's demanding of his receivers and has no problem calling them out in the huddle after drops. I personally have no problem with that. Rashied Davis might have a problem with that however.

Training camp can't start soon enough.