If it looked at times like Jay Cutler wasn’t having fun in Chicago, well perhaps there’s a reason for that.
The now-Dolphins quarterback admitted Monday that his eight seasons in Chicago began to wear on him — between the injuries and the constant losing.
“I think you can talk about anybody in the league, no one likes to lose, no one likes going through those situations,” Cutler said, via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. “Those are tough. They wear you down. But that wasn’t the sole reason . . . I mean, they released me, so it was kind of end of the road at that point.”
The early highs of his early days with the Bears (reaching the NFC Championship Game) gave way to a bad ending, as he was 12-23 in his last 35 starts and had to deal with injuries.
But now, recovered from his shoulder surgery and back with coach Adam Gase, he was excited to start a new chapter. That it meant leaving his brief retirement and broadcasting career was tough, but Cutler says he never lost his love for the game.
“Just kind of channeled it in a different direction,” he said of his enthusiasm. “I still wanted to be in football, still wanted to be around it, and I was going to have that opportunity through FOX. Once this new opportunity [arose], it seemed like an absolute fit for me.”
“I always missed [the game]. I think I’ve always said that there were going to be days I missed it and days I was content with my decision. There was never a week that went by that I didn’t think about playing football. Did I make the right decision? Did I not make the right decision? That’s kind of life. There’s always situations that come up that you’re not sure which direction to go. You just gotta pick one and roll with it. I was just lucky enough that something like this happened for me.”
He sounds genuinely relieved to be in a good situation. Even if he doesn’t always look the part.