1.24.2011

Veni, Vidi, Vici!! Hail to the Victors!


Veni, Vidi, Vici!! Hail to the Victors!!

Congratulations Packer fans, and thanks for sharing your forum with me this season. The Packers are headed to Dallas to tackle the Steelers in Superbowl XLV!!

As Bears fans are left scratching our heads and asking, "what just happened?" We are pondering whether our franchise quarterback 'tapped out' or not. (I'm not saying he did.) Not what we were hoping to be talking about today!

Conversely, Packer fans are secure in the knowledge they have the better team and a much more mature leader at QB. While the Bears finally have found some "stability" at our team's least stable position since the 1940s, it has been put into the hands of an aloof, immature, albeit talented gun slinger. While Cutler is capable of looking like Bart Starr and Brett Favre at times, as recently as last week during the Seahawks drubbing, he all too easily slides back into his shell when things are going poorly.

On the other side of the coin is Aaron Rodgers. He is more accurate than Cutler with a better arm while being just as nimble. Both of these guys got their respective teams to the NFC championship game with excellent play.

The real difference between the two? Maturity. Plain and simple. While Aaron Rodgers is secure in his own skin; fun loving, and goofing around with his teammates on the sidelines. Cutler sits alone, refusing to "coach" Caleb Hanie when he needs it most. Rodgers is a guy who loves to compete, loves to win, and loves his teammates. It shows. Rodgers does not take being an NFL starting quarterback for granted as so many others do. (Google Ben Roethlisberger's civilian track record for comparison as well as Michael Vick's.) His level of emotional maturity should not be underrated in the overall performance of his team.

This is magnified when you compare him to Jay Cutler. Cutler takes all the aforementioned for granted. Blessed with size, speed, and good looks, he acts as though he is entitled to his position as a starting QB in the NFL. He is a prima donna who believes his spot on the main stage is his birthright. Granted you want this level of confidence in your field general. But without humility it boils over into cockiness which is never a good thing.

We Bears fans were blind to the fact Cutler whined his way out of Denver forcing a trade; we were getting a guy who threw for 4500 yards!! We were willing to accept his impetuous nature and aloof demeanor, he was Joe Cool. Maybe a redux of Jim McMahon?? If that got us to the Superbowl we could easily see past all the other stuff. If we had won yesterday I'm not writing this article today! The grapes always taste sour after you lose and we have no shortage in Chicago this morning. What I'm saying is Cutler can still get us to and win the Superbowl, but to do so he will need to grow up. He needs a "Rod Tidwell moment." The greedy self absorbed wide receiver in the movie, Jerry Maguire. Like Cutler, Rod is a self absorbed selfish player who is looking to "get paid" for his talent without realizing he needs to leave everything on the field in his athletic effort while embracing the "team" aspect of the game emotionally. Until Cutler experiences this spiritual 'kick to the head' and grows up, his team, da Bears, will not advance.

I wish the best of luck to the Packers in Superbowl XLV. If the Bears can't be in the big game there is a small point of pride knowing the two best teams in the NFC this year came from the North. We lost to the better team with a better leader at the helm! Sure Aaron Rodgers isn't Julius Caesar, but he came, he saw, he conquered!!

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