Cutler “Alcohol” Comment Resurfaces On FOX31 Blog

Earlier this week, Josina Anderson of FOX31 in Denver posted an eyebrow-raising item regarding Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler. Within a day, the most intriguing assertion had been removed. It’s now back, with some mild clarification. Here’s the prior version: “The source said there are concerns about Cutler’s consumption of alcohol, and ‘that he’s not that sharp.’

“That scared the crap out of McDaniels,’ the source said.”

Here’s the new version:

“Two things that kept coming up were concerns about Cutler’s alcohol consumption (given his diabetes) and ‘that’s he not that (football) sharp.’

“‘That scared the crap out of McDaniels,’ the source told me.” Though the text was removed with no explanation, the return of the assertion of alcohol (given his diabetes) and whether Cutler is (football) sharp carries a separate “additional note.”

Here’s the additional note: “A portion of what was written in the ‘Secrets Inside the Cutler Trade talks’ blog was briefly removed by our web supervisors to review for additional clarity. That portion has been resubmitted subsequent to this process. It is important to note, this portion was not briefly removed out of doubt of the primary source’s information.”

Duh. In our assessment, the information was removed not because anyone doubted the source’s information (which Anderson still takes great pains to point out isn’t an assertion of fact by FOX31) but because it “scared the crap” out of someone who thought FOX31 might take a lawsuit.

Thus, the language was scrubbed out of the entry quietly, presumably in the hopes that no one would notice it was ever there. The fact that the cat got out of the bag might have been a factor in the decision to re-post the information.