People either love or hate Jay Cutler. That much has been made clear during his long NFL career. There is no middle ground with the guy. However, there is at least one thing everyone can agree on. The guy is never and has never been boring. From the quirky personality to the flawless ability to draw controversy. He attracts some crazy stories.
There’s the fact he came out of retirement to start for the Miami Dolphins last year, during which he somehow beat the New England Patriots. In 2014, he was embroiled in a feud with then-Bears head coach Marc Trestman after information came out about the coaching staff talking bad about him to the media. In 2011, he was caught on camera cursing out his offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
The year before? He drew a ton of flak from players and media for being unable to finish the NFC championship game due to a knee injury. Last but certainly not least, he forced his way out of Denver after a massive falling out with new head coach Josh McDaniels. The guy may have had a C+ playing career, but he got a perfect score for soap opera.
What many don’t know about him? This stuff started the moment he was drafted.
Jay Cutler had no idea Broncos were drafting him, or were even interested
For over a decade the major story regarding Cutler in the 2006 draft was that the Denver Broncos traded up twice from 29th overall to get him at #11. Amazingly, that’s somehow not the craziest part of the story. Jeff Legwold of ESPN discovered something incredible hidden beneath the surface most people didn’t know.
Because when the Broncos traded up — not once, but twice — in the first round of the 2006 draft to select Cutler at No. 11, the man making the decision then — Mike Shanahan — had not spoken to Cutler face-to-face at any point leading up to the draft. The Broncos didn’t even attend Cutler’s pro day at Vanderbilt.
“Not once,” Cutler has said. “Never. The first time I talked to him was after they picked me.”
Given the typical style of drafting quarterbacks these days, the idea a team moved up 18 picks to draft a guy they never met once sounds utterly ludicrous. There’s no way they went in completely blind right? No one is that dumb.
As it turns out, that’s true. Denver had a hidden advantage
So Shanahan called on a friend. Jeff Fisher’s Tennessee Titans had the No. 3 pick and team owner K.S. “Bud” Adams Jr. had already pointed at Texas quarterback Vince Young. Because the Titans had such a high pick, they vetted, met with and worked out the top three quarterback prospects in that draft: Young, USC’s Matt Leinart and Cutler.
“We had sat down with them all,” Fisher said this past season. “And we knew Vince was going to be the pick, so in that situation I talked to Mike about the guys as people. We knew, in our situation, Vince was the pick, we weren’t compromising that in any way.”
Fisher gets a ton of flak for his failures as a head coach over the past 10 years. One thing that can’t be refuted though? The man has an eye for quarterbacks. He drafted Steve McNair in 1995 and turned him into an MVP. Years later he signed the likes of Nick Foles and Case Keenum. One is now a Super Bowl MVP and the other led his team to the NFC championship. He also helped execute the trade up for Jared Goff in 2016, who is now a Pro Bowler for the Rams.
What many forget is he wanted Cutler in 2006, but was overruled by ownership. So if he couldn’t have him, it would make sense he’d give a hot tip to his friend Shanahan. The two worked together in San Francisco. Amazing how things play out and why the draft is so much fun.
