I’m very heavy on entrepreneurship and doing your own thing, but in football you have to fit the mold. There is very little room for self expression, other than maybe throwing some snowballs and having huge passion for the game. I think his leadership was seriously flawed in Denver and his antics were not received well by the team. I think it skewed the whole chemistry of the team–just look at Brandon Marshall.

I’m also huge on leadership and leading by example. A quarterback is supposed to come in and do everything right, be the guy that everyone looks up to and that didn’t happen in Denver. Cutler could have sucked it up and gotten other guys to step up to the plate and play their roles, but instead he acted as an individual, not a teammate and that’s not what wins championships.

You have a knack for writing stuff that makes people think–keep up the great work Matt, I love comparing sports and business.

That’s too pessimistic of a perspective in my mind – I think that we all are very unique and special, it’s just more difficult for some people to tap into that, and more importantly, translate their uniqueness into success.

What I do think, is that our judgment is easy clouded by this sense of entitlement, this sense that we should be able to do whatever we want that gives us the most meaning to our lives, without ‘paying our dues’ so to speak. There is a fine line between arrogance and confidence – and it’s important to not let yourself get self-absorbed and neglect realism.

But are we entitled to be entitled? I would say, there is a certain lack of accountability that this generation lacks, but this is because they were told they could do anything, be anything and were not exposed in large respect to the refining practice of criticism. I am the eldest of gen y group (which I place at 27,28 years old) and I wasn’t exposed to it either and consequently was perpetually looking for a job that “valued” me when I should have been looking around at how I could add value. I have learned that for me, looking outside myself and my needs, my work life balence, etc, I was able to carve a niche that really worked for me.

I don’t think we are nearly as special as we have been told and that is a hard reality to look down

One – Josh McDaniels was an idiot for the way he handled the situation. Why would you come in and rock the boat? The Broncos have a lot of issues, but not at QB. He should have came in and looked at getting Cutler some support with a decent RB and working on that terrible defense.

Two – I think Cutler has HUGE potential in Chicago as long as he stays healthy. He would benefit from having ONE veteran WR (I’m hoping they sign Torry Holt). With the Bears he has an outstanding running back (who is going into only his second year mind you), great special teams that will give him short fields to work with, and a good (not great – they are ageing) defense. I’m looking forward to the upcoming season; I can’t wait for opening weekend, Sunday night, at Lambeau: Going to be a classic.

Great post with a new spin on a controversial story. I feel that Josh McDaniels is totally in the wrong here. If you come to be the Head Coach of a playoff caliber team, you should attempt to meet and establish a good working relationship with your Pro Bowl athletes, period. Cassel would never have performed the way that Cutler did in Denver and it was idiotic for McDaniels to try to replace the Pro Bowl quarterback.

I agree that he is portrayed as part of our generation, seen as ‘one of those darn whiny youngsters who are never happy.’ But, if we look to other NFL players, it is not hard to find players who performed at a high level, became unhappy with their leadership, complained publicly about it and then got their way in the end (see T.O., Randy Moss, Eli Manning, etc.) The NFL has become especially tolerant of entitled players and the teams that start players like this continue to excel.

I don’t want to jinx him, but I think Cutler has the potential to perform to a much higher level than he ever did in Denver. The Bears defense will give him much needed support and time off the field. I am not sure exactly about the stat, but when the opposing team scored less than 21 points, Cutler’s record was 13-0.

People in any job, especially those who perform well at any job deserve to be treated with respect and will go elsewhere if this is not the case. This is not a case of entitlement, it is a case of the old players not agreeing with the newly hired leadership.

I agree with your stance on Cutler. In the end, neither party was perfect in the way the situation was handled, but I think we’re witnessing the maturity of a QB who has had a ton of success very early in his career and (may) not know how to handle it yet. He’ll be the face of the Bears franchise for the next decade (I don’t see any way they let a guy like him go for a LONG time). And 10-15 years from now (guys are playing into their 40′s these days) he’ll have his name etched into the HOF.

Thanks again for coming by Tim – look forward to hearing more from you!

Like you, I see Jay from the point of his VU career and nothing he did here while he was, as I like to say, eating Dudley Dirt gave anyone any indication he was, or is, a crybaby.

Maybe the crit is leveled at Gen-Y, maybe not. Jay’s baby-faced appearance probably adds fuel to the fire for the critics. Also, perhaps the medications he is using (if any) to battle the Diabetes 1 illness are causing mood swings.

We see issues all the time with athletes being more irresponsible than Jay Cutler. That perspective from an increasing number of folks fed up with such behavior could add to the equation as well.

I think time will bear witness that Jay Cutler will continue to grow as a person and player, eventually standing on a podium at Canton. Josh McDaniel, however, won’t be his presenter.

Keep up the good work. I don’t know where I picked up your link, but I like what I’m reading and will continue to read often.

Tim