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Shazam!
03-23-2009, 09:04 AM
Hate piling on more Cutler crap but these are two very good relevent articles.


Kiszla: Cook is no top chef in Jay-C mess
By Mark Kiszla
The Denver Post
3/22/2009

Grown men drool in wonder at Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, as if his throwing right arm was the caboose of Jennifer Lopez or Angelina Jolie's sexy lips.

Of course, we all know a grown man doesn't always think with his brain.

For example: If Cutler has anything more than a Beatles haircut between his ears, our disgruntled quarterback would come to his senses and do something smart for a change.

Cutler should fire Bus Cook, the two-fisted, money-grubbing agent who has Cutler wrapped around his finger like a puppet and seems to enjoy yanking the chain of Broncos owner Pat Bowlen.

While earning free publicity at the expense of Cutler's good name, Cook has wrecked the working relationship between Jay-C and Denver to the point of no repair, if you're asking me.

But that's not even the saddest part of this NFL soap opera.

Cutler has been brainwashed by Cook to believe this 25-year-old player is far better than the impressive 4,526 yards passing and 25 touchdown passes he produced last season.

Broncomaniacs are panicking with the mistaken impression Cutler's 17-20 record in Denver somehow qualifies him as a franchise quarterback to be retained at any cost.

And it has been screamed new Broncos coach Josh McDaniels is doomed to failure, or should be fired on the spot, if he dares trade an unhappy camper who wants out of Denver.

Well, hate to be the one to introduce a heaping teaspoon of reality to this hysteria, but Mr. Cutler is not yet the quarterback that Cook would have you or his misguided client believe.

Unless you grade on a generous curve, the list of franchise quarterbacks in the NFL has only three names on it: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger.

No other signal-caller in this league is guaranteed tomorrow. Just ask Drew Brees, who has averaged 4,636 passing yards and 29 TD passes in three seasons with New Orleans since being pushed out the door by San Diego. Or Kurt Warner, who packed up two MVP trophies and wandered from St. Louis to New York, before finding happiness again in the Arizona desert.

You want to tell me Cutler is a more accomplished QB than Brees or Warner? Dream on.

Before being condemned for hating on Cutler, let me remind I lobbied for Denver to draft him, predicted he would start games as a rookie and proclaimed a Pro Bowl invitation would come his way sooner rather than later.

When the dude tells us Denver is no longer the right place for him to work, I not only take Cutler at his word, but trust his football instincts.

Not long ago, there was a Broncos quarterback who made the Pro Bowl, got a championship ring as a gift and was favorably compared to Joe Montana by his coach, all by the time he was 25 years old.

Anybody consider Brian Griese a franchise quarterback now?

McDaniels might have graduated from the Bill Belichick Charm School, and the clumsy way the young coach unnecessarily stepped on Cutler's toes makes me believe Kid McD won't ever be appearing on "Dancing with the Stars."

But trust this: McDaniels knows quarterbacks.

So if the man considered trading Cutler for Matt Cassel and then lied about it, maybe there was a more essential truth McDaniels was trying to hide.

Cutler, with a reliance on arm strength that borders on narcissism, a tendency to pout in defeat and a track record that proves what he has done in college and the NFL is post gaudy statistics for bad teams, has a long way to go before he is a franchise QB.

Cutler does possess the talent to be one of the five best quarterbacks in the league.

Cutler, however, also has a large ego an agent could lead around the NFL, forever in search of greener pastures and paychecks, at the expense of success defined by the scoreboard.

My honest thought is if a coach and quarterback both as great as Dan Reeves and John Elway were not meant to be together, then why should McDaniels and Cutler try to pretend they like each other?

There are enough NFL general managers who drool at the sight of Cutler's arm that the Broncos should be able to trade him for a promising young QB for McDaniels to groom and at least one valuable draft pick to rebuild Denver's sorry defense.

But if Cutler really wants to make it to the Super Bowl as a member of the Broncos, if he truly loves Denver as much as many loyal fans love him, if the quarterback wants to prove me wrong and show how a fractured relationship with McDaniels can be mended, then let the work begin.

How to start?

Fire Cook, the agent giving Cutler bad advice

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_11970093




Paige: Griese can identify with Cutler's plight
By Woody Paige
The Denver Post
3/22/2009

The young, heralded Broncos quarterback, standing in the legendary shadow of John Elway and criticized relentlessly when he wasn't the Second Coming, distanced himself from the media, the fans and even his own teammates and coaches. He made mistakes, lost games and underachieved. He made brilliant plays, led his team to comeback victories and overachieved. He was named a Pro Bowl quarterback. But the Broncos never won the division, and he never started a playoff game. He felt unloved and unwanted.

Finally, the unsatisfied coach got rid of the quarterback.

Brian Griese understands Jay Cutler better than anyone else.

"When I was with the Broncos, I don't think I fully understood the pressure on, and the scrutiny of, the quarterback and how to deal with it," he said. "What I see now is that the limelight is always on the quarterback in Denver.

"To be honest, I don't necessarily reflect on my own time with the Broncos and make comparisons between Jay's situation and mine. But I can identify with what Jay's going through."

The 34-year-old Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback was selected in the third round of the 1998 draft. It wasn't enough that Griese was being groomed to succeed Elway, who would win two Super Bowls and be inducted into the Hall of Fame; he was the son of Bob Griese, two-time Super Bowl winner and a Hall of Fame quarterback.

Ten years ago Brian Griese became the starting quarterback of the Broncos. After the 2002 season he was released, unceremoniously, on the day the Broncos signed Jake Plummer.

At the beginning of our conversation last week, Griese laughs, then pleads: "The last thing I want to do is get in the middle of (the Jay Cutler-Josh McDaniels dispute)." But he does add: "The most beneficial and important aspects of a relationship between a coach and a quarterback are communication and honesty. They're irreplaceable on either side."

Griese follows the Broncos. He lives in Denver.

"No matter what team I play for, I'm a Broncos fan and want them to do well," he said. "After the year Jay had, I was excited about his future in Denver. This is very unfortunate. The real losers in all this are the fans. I hope the differences can be worked out."

Denver is Griese's permanent home. He is founder and president of Judi's House — a foundation that focuses on assisting thousands of grieving children and spouses who have lost a loved one. The organization is Griese's lasting tribute to his mother, Judi, who died of breast cancer when he was 12. He still grieves.

After being a backup his junior year at Michigan, Griese was intent on graduating and joining the Peace Corps to help the underprivileged in South America.

Then a funny thing happened. As a senior, Griese led Michigan to an undefeated season, a victory in the Rose Bowl (he was MVP) and a share of the national championship.

"Suddenly, my life went in a direction I never considered," he said.

He was drafted by the Broncos and, as third-string quarterback in 1998, earned a Super Bowl championship ring. The next season Griese took over for Elway, sort of. Despite a lack of experience and arm strength, and a fragile body, he was compared to Joe Montana by Mike Shanahan and the late Bill Walsh.

The Broncos lost Griese's first four starts and he felt the wrath of Denver. The Broncos finished 6-10. He was not Elway, nor Montana, nor Bob Griese.

In 2000 the Broncos reached the playoffs, but Gus Frerotte started in the defeat. Griese was in and out of the lineup because of injuries the rest of his Broncos career, which ended after the 2002 season.

While in Denver, Griese searched for an organization providing "hope and healing for grieving children" that he could support. There was none. So he created Judi's House in 2002.

It was written during Griese's five seasons with the Broncos that maybe his off-field charitable activity was more important than football to Griese.

"To be honest, my work with children and families is more important in life. But that doesn't mean I don't want to win, and I'm not passionate about playing football. I shifted my original goal from helping people in other countries to doing something that has more meaning to me personally. I had no mother to turn to, and I became introverted, like my father. He lost his father when he was 10.

"I try to tell kids who lost a parent that they need not feel alone in their grief."

Griese raises money and awareness, talks to groups and companies about Judi's House and spends the rest of the time with the grieving families and his own family. He met his wife Brook, a clinical psychologist, when he was with the Broncos. They had their first child, Annalia Rose, in 2006.

The young Griese was described by teammates and the media as "distant, withdrawn, impenetrable." He believes he is far beyond those characterizations. He seems more open, friendlier, comfortable with strangers and happy with himself and football today.

His contract with Tampa Bay runs for two more years. "I don't want to just hang around the game. I want to be a leader on the field and in the locker room," he said. "I want to be the starter. I saw (Arizona quarterback) Kurt Warner at a charity event two weeks ago, and said, 'Thanks from all the older guys for what you did for us.' "

When his football career ends, Griese will amp up his Judi's House career. "Football allows me to talk to young people about what I went through as a grieving boy, and how they can make it, too."

Griese's E-ticket QB ride has never ended. In his first stint with Tampa Bay, he replaced Chris Simms and started 17 games, got hurt, and was replaced by Simms, then released. He was signed by the Bears, made a few starts and returned to the Bucs last year, replacing Jeff Garcia as the starter.

Griese was injured early in the game against the Broncos here last fall — and was replaced by Garcia.

More irony: Simms is now in Denver, and a few weeks ago the Bucs were working on a three-way deal that would have sent Cutler to Tampa Bay, where he would join. . . . Griese.

When it's wondered if Griese could return to Denver, he sighs.

To succeed both Elway and Cutler, that's too much to ask of any man, any quarterback, any Denver resident and any self-acknowledged Broncos fan.

Brian Griese already has performed in that circus.

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_11968837

Broncolingus
03-23-2009, 09:07 AM
I read Kizsla's this morning and have no problem with that article...

JMO...

Dirk
03-23-2009, 09:19 AM
Thanks for the reads. Best part out of both is the following line...

"Fire Cook, the agent giving Cutler bad advice"

NightTrainLayne
03-23-2009, 10:34 AM
Both good reads. Good stuff Shazam.