Bill Simmons, during his NFL preview column:
Chicago fans have been wondering why I dumped them and adopted the Packers as my NFC North team and Super Bowl pick du jour. It came down to one thing: I didn’t want to root for Jay Cutler. Has he had a likable moment yet? This year will be his coming-out party as the most despised player in football. Every time they show him on the sidelines, he looks like a pissed-off trust-fund kid who can’t believe the valet scratched his Escalade hybrid. And you know what? He makes the league more fun. I like rooting against him the same way I liked rooting against Rick Barry, Bill Laimbeer and the Iron Sheik. We need more Jay Cutlers in sports. Not everyone was meant to be liked.
You know what? I endorse this 100%. #6 needs to start wearing his sunglasses all the time, even on the sideline of games. He needs to start calling himself “Hollywood Jay Cutler.” He needs to play up the whole Vanderbilt angle (despite being from Santa Claus, IN) and be the spoiled punk-ass rich brat who nevertheless has undeniable talent can throw the ball through a battleship. He needs, in short, to be a heel.
It would be the 80s WWF all over again. Come on, it’s the Chicago Bears, it’s going to be 80s anyway. He could be Jim McMahon turned up to 11 and sprinkled with glitter and cocaine. Seriously, if Jay Cutler goes down this road, I will pile all my Redskins S in a big heap and light it on fire and become a 100% Chicago Bears fan.
(And if he wants to throw to Earl Bennett every down, well, I have Easy Earl on my fantasy roster, so let’s go!)