Thread: Jay Cutler: Tough As Hell

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/blac...t-bears-cutler

Blackhawks support Bears' Cutler

The sport of hockey has such a tight fraternity that when some Chicago Blackhawk players heard the criticism of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler for coming out of the NFC Championship Game Sunday, they were both surprised and intrigued.
“It’s a different league, different sport, different personalities,” Patrick Kane said. “You see way more outspoken people in the NFL. Sometimes it’s interesting to see what players have to say. Would you see it in the NHL? Maybe from a few players but not a lot like you see in the NFL.” Although hockey is a sport where players perform hurt all the time, no one in the Hawks dressing room was questioning the decision to take Cutler out. And many couldn’t believe the outrage of the decision.
“You feel bad for him,” Brian Campbell said. “His friends and family. You see people burning his jersey. Hopefully we can all somehow in our own way apologize to a guy like that.”
“From what his teammates and coaches are saying you have to trust their instincts to keep him out of the game,” Kane added.
Campbell was the most outspoken, having had a similar injury this season that sidelined him for the first five weeks of the year. Like others in the Hawks’ locker room, he couldn’t believe Cutler’s peers attacking him.
“It’s pretty disappointing, the reaction of it all,” he said. “At least don’t react right away. Find out the details about it and then react.
“They’re probably at home watching the game eating popcorn or whatever else. I was eating chili. Anybody can grab a phone and say, ‘look at him on the sidelines.’ I could have walked around when I did my knee. True warriors know what guys do. The guy has been sacked and beaten on how many times in the last two years and a he keeps going about his business. Yeah, maybe he doesn’t talk the best in the media but that’s him. Everybody is different, not everybody is Peyton Manning. He goes out and gets his job done and that’s all you want. Guys aren’t the best at everything but he’s good at playing football. That’s what Bears fans should be pretty happy about.”
Campbell stressed that appearances can be deceiving.
“I know when I did mine and came off the ice I was like, ‘I can play’, but as soon as I got back to the room I was like, ‘ok, something is going on here.’ I know when I was rehabbing I would never be able to plant a foot or do anything laterally for three weeks.”
Kane knows when he’s out with an injury there is always going to be talk about how quickly he can get back, even by those with no knowledge of the issue. He’d like to see the athlete get the benefit of the doubt.
“I feel bad for the guy to be honest with you because it seems the fans are kind of after him and everyone is ripping him,” Kane said. “Hopefully they give him a break.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoopmiam...-on-jay-cutler

LeBron James & Dwyane Wade on Jay Cutler

MIAMI -- It's Tuesday. So that could mean only one thing: It's weigh-in day for LeBron James.

No, not weigh-in as step on the scale and measure his body-fat percentage. That's another day. (Seriously. The Heat do checks on a regular basis. It's the Pat Riley way.)

On this day, it was another episode of “Ask LeBron.” Don't get that confused with “LeBron Speaks” Thursday or “LeBron on ... ” Friday.

When a team garners as much attention as the Miami Heat, and a player attracts as large a media crowd on a daily basis as LeBron, there are often days when writers run out of ammo. The Heat are in the midst of a stretch of only two games in 11 days.

So today, it was a challenge to come up with new material to toss at LeBron.

Chris Bosh's injury? Been there.

Playing more power forward? Done that.

Bump-gate between James and coach Erik Spoelstra? Don't go there again.

So what was the most juicy scoop the media dug out of LeBron after Tuesday's practice? His thoughts on the firestorm of criticism that has surrounded Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who left the game midway through the Bears' loss to Green Bay in Sunday's NFC championship.

Cutler, the sometimes surly, often arrogant, championship ring-less quarterback, has taken heat from current and former NFL players for not being tough enough to gut it out and play through what turned out to be a torn knee ligament to finish out the second half of Sunday's game.

He's been called a quitter by some, a softy by others. LeBron faced the same type of backlash at the end of last season, when there was a strong sentiment that he quit on the Cleveland Cavaliers during a second-round playoff series against the eventual conference champion Boston Celtics.

Fair or not, some in the media have linked James to Cutler. So James was asked for his opinion of how Cutler has been treated in the media and on Twitter in the aftermath of Sunday's meltdown.

Truth is, James wanted no part of the discussion. He didn't see the question coming, but he reluctantly and hesitantly obliged.

“In today's world of sports and social media, I think it's unfortunate,” James said. “I don't know him personally, so I'm not going to get up here and defend Cutler, because I don't know him. As a teammate, I've never been around him. But I believe if a guy is healthy enough, he would have played. But I'm not sure. I'm not his teammate. I'm not around in the fight with him.”

What about other athletes taking shots at Cutler?

“That's their own business,” James continued. “I've been in Jay Cutler's shoes. So I know how it feels to have people saying you, you know, wasn't up for the task. He'll be all right. He'll come back next year, when he gets healthy, and help his team win.”

LeBron didn't go the Cutler route alone Tuesday. Heat teammate Dwyane Wade, a Chicago native and die-hard Bears fan, backed his hometown quarterback, too.

“As a competitor, I want him to be in there,” Wade said. “But obviously, if he wasn't in there, he couldn't go. You cannot question Jay Cutler's toughness. I'm not going to question his toughness. When a guy get sacked 53 times or whatever the number is, and gets back up -- and when you're playing quarterback, you're tough. It's one of the toughest positions to play.”

Coincidentally, the Cutler debate hit the Heat's practice on the same day a Sports Illustrated poll was released that revealed James was picked as the NBA player who would most likely be effective as an NFL quarterback.