Opinion: Cutler, McDaniels can get past situation
Jay Cutler wants to leave Colorado. According to my unscientific poll, nothing would bring more joy to state residents.
I understand their sentiment. Cutler, the Denver Broncos quarterback, has masterfully performed the role of spoiled, surly, madly-in-love-with-self-yet-oddly-insecure athlete.
His psyche is undoubtedly a mess. Yet his right arm remains mighty. His silly talk of recent weeks did nothing to drain his immense talent.
If he awakens from his goofy, self-centered funk, Cutler will realize his ideal ally/teacher has arrived on the Front Range.
Working together, Cutler and 32-year-old coach Josh McDaniels will develop into a dangerous football duo. And I mean dangerous to opponents, not the Broncos.
McDaniels has the mind. Cutler has the arm. Think of the possibilities.
It's not too late, even if Cutler has pushed McDaniels and the Broncos to the edge. This relationship can be mended.
Cutler must accept McDaniels' authority and recognize he's still finding his way as a leader.
McDaniels is learning that he can't transport Bill Belichick's grumpy, dictatorial ways from New England to the Rockies.
But the first, and biggest, move must come from Cutler.
He should quit worrying about pride and start looking at how McDaniels crafted Matt Cassel into an NFL star.
Cassel never started a game at USC, where he sat behind Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart. Cassel completed 19 passes in four seasons and never threw a touchdown.
In his first three seasons at New England, Cassel completed 23 passes. The last time Cassel did anything was during his senior season in high school. He had been nothing more than a bench resident.
After Tom Brady suffered a hideous knee injury, McDaniels crafted Cassel into a superb imitation of Brady. Cassel threw for 3,693 yards, 21 touchdowns and led the Patriots to an 11-5 record.
Cassel is a seventh-round pick who never conquered Palmer or Leinart. Cutler is a first-round pick blessed with more raw talent than any quarterback on our planet who's under 30.
He remains raw. He forces throws into double - and sometimes triple - coverage. He struggles as a leader.
McDaniels can transform him. McDaniels can lift Cutler to elite status. Another John Elway never will land in Colorado, but Cutler could become the next best thing.
If Cutler leaves, I see a career filled with wandering and losing. If his emotions truly are this fragile, he'll never find peace in the harsh realm of the NFL.
If he doesn't alter his me-first, anarchist act, fans will despise him at his next destination and at every future destination.
My columns usually inspire mixed responses. Some agree. Some don't.
After writing Cutler should quit whining about trade rumors and start proving his worth as an NFL starter, I expected a strong response.
I never expected everyone to share my view.
A woman in a buffet line gave me a thumb's up.
"Agree with you about Jay," she said, scrunching her nose. "What a baby."
A security guard at the Air Force Academy gazed at my driver's license, smiled and said, "You're right about Cutler. What's wrong with that guy?"
Somewhere in our state, someone shares Cutler's belief that he's suffering through grave injustice.
Right?
Cutler should realize he stands virtually alone. He should say he's sorry, and then McDaniels will say he's sorry and soon this massive storm will be seen for what it is - two rich, gifted young men caught in a needless clash of egos.
Can this relationship be saved?
Sure it can.
