City of Weak Shoulders Finally Lands a Real Quarterback

CHICAGO -- So the Summer Olympics must be coming in 2016. And a minefield of potholes soon will be magically filled. And the Cubs will win a World Series for the first time since, oh, your grandparents' grandparents were double-dating in Henry Ford's Model T. And those wicked, face-eating winters will be replaced by pleasant, sunny, balmy, gorgeous ... all right, I'm obviously overcome by shock.

Forgive me, but it's not every day -- or year or decade or century -- when the Chicago Bears muster up the wherewithal to outbid the competition for a Pro Bowl quarterback. What's next, Cholesterol City giving up steak, pizza and Italian beef for veggies? Corruption City farming out the crooked politicians? Thursday, I challenged general manager Jerry Angelo to acquire Jay Cutler, reminding a global Web audience that the Bears always have undervalued the quarterback position while perpetually shaming themselves as the charter NFL franchise that never bothered to cultivate a franchise quarterback. My final column for the dying Chicago Sun-Times last year torched Angelo as inept, in part because he seemed to place a higher priority on kickers than passers.

At long last, the widespread community criticism must have melted through his thick skull. Because there was Angelo, early in afternoon rush hour, stopping the city in its expressway tracks with the announcement that Cutler was coming from Denver in exchange for the Bears' most recent average quarterback, Kyle Orton, and a steep but necessary package: first-round draft choices in 2009 and 2010 and a third-rounder in 2009. Actually, Angelo first started to come around on his black hole behind center in late December, when the Bears missed the playoffs. But no one really believed him until Christmas Day arrived early.

And I do mean Christmas Day, knowing Cutler to be the most famous native of Santa Claus, Ind., where he grew up ... as a Bears fan.

"It came together unexpectedly,'' said Angelo, who monitored the turmoil between Cutler and Broncos management the last five weeks. "I came to the conclusion that we needed to pursue this. And if we got in it, we wanted to get in it to win it. My understanding is, quite a few teams were in it.''

But the Bears -- the Bears! -- beat them to the prize. This is something Dan Snyder would do in Washington. This is something we figured Tampa Bay or the New York Jets might do. This is something we figured Detroit might do because the Lions are armed with the No. 1 pick in the draft. For years, I described the Bears owners, the McCaskey family, as the Misers of the Midway, and when they finally started spending big money as the league grew more prosperous, the entire operation still drove you nuts with its quarterback phobia. That's why the move at Halas Hall is so stunning. For once, Angelo and team boss Ted Phillips seized a unique situation -- a talented young quarterback feuding with his team after a new coach tried to trade him -- and closed the deal.

"It's a first for me,'' Angelo said. "Just look at the history of the league. I can't recall a situation quite like this. All we did was react to a situation we felt would benefit our football team.''

Some will say he relinquished too much. I say no price was too expensive, seeing how the league's third-largest market -- and arguably America's most passionate football town -- never has laid eyes on a consistently great QB in a Bears uniform. So low were the city's quarterbacking standards, the poor fans actually were thrilled with Erik Kramer, a journeyman who had a couple of fine seasons in the '90s. They were gratified when Orton, who only recently was best known for drunk photos on the Internet, settled down, got married and didn't turn over the ball as much as the deposed Rex Grossman, who allegedly played in a Super Bowl that no one really remembers in Chicago.


Consider this: Last season, Cutler made the Pro Bowl and passed for 4,526 yards and 25 touchdowns. The last Bears quarterback to make a Pro Bowl? Go back to the fabled 1985 season and Jim McMahon, whose potentially brilliant career was limited by injuries. The last Bears quarterback to throw for 25 touchdowns? Kramer. The last Bears quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards?

Someone, anyone?

No one.

And this franchise has been around since 1920.

Which explains why the Cutler trade was celebrated in these parts like St. Patrick's Day. Finally, the Bears have a chance for a dynamic passing game in wind-whipped Soldier Field, where his rocket arm will help in conditions that generally are inclement for at least three of the eight home games. Chances suddenly look promising for a return to the playoffs. Cutler will have an all-purpose running back behind him in Matt Forte, a shrewd Angelo pick in the second round last year. He'll have his former tackle at Vanderbilt, Chris Williams, protecting his back -- providing Williams recovers from a back injury -- and an improved line that now includes veteran Orlando Pace. A once-mighty defense has issues, especially in the secondary, but the likes of Lance Briggs and Tommie Harris still can be fearsome forces while we wonder if aging, injury-battered Brian Urlacher is past his prime. It's critical to find a potent wide receiver for Cutler, as he had in Denver with Brandon Marshall, and Devin Hester probably is too raw and fragile ever to develop into an elite, reliable, super-productive gamebreaker. But for once, that is a pleasant problem to have.

Serious football people always ruled out the Bears because they didn't have a quarterback. Now, they have one who's 25 and might dominate the league -- and a city's sports-crazed consciousness -- for the next decade. Sure, Cutler is immature, wears his cap backwards, hangs out in bars and thumbs his nose at the establishment. But back in the mid-'80s, I seem to recall a punky QB named McMahon doing much crazier stuff -- mooning a helicopter, spitting a loogy on a reporter -- and to this day, he lives on as a Chicago cult hero. Look, no one cares what Cutler does as long as he throws a tight spiral into the arms of his own receivers. His mission is that simple in what I've described as the City of Weak Shoulders.

As for Cutler's whiny feud with the Broncos, Angelo and coach Lovie Smith aren't concerned. They've spent a lot of time studying the Vanderbilt program -- they drafted Williams and wide receiver Earl Bennett last year, while veteran linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer played there -- and Nashville-area scout Rex Hogan reports nothing but positives about Cutler's atttude. "Personally, I don't have any concerns,'' Angelo said. "Lovie and I talked about that, and Rex felt he's a very good person, a good leader. He had some things happen in Denver, and we recognize those things, but we'll treat them as speed bumps. Jay is highly compeitive, highly emotional -- and that just comes with the territory.''

Urlacher, still the most important voice in the locker room, told the Chicago Tribune that Cutler will be richly welcomed -- though he was a fan of Orton. "I would be ticked off, too, if someone was trying to trade me and didn't tell me about it," Urlacher said. "I don't think Jay is going to be an issue. We have a pretty good locker room, so I'm not worried about that. Hunter knows him. And (Cutler) seems like a pretty good guy. I've never met him, but I've heard good things about him. I'm not worried about him fitting in.

"I guess the Bears felt like we needed another quarterback, so they made a move. They gave up a lot. Cutler must be pretty good ... I guess we got better as a team. You get a quarterback who is a Pro Bowl guy.''

Once a model organization, the Broncos will rue the day they traded Cutler. With John Elway as the local gold standard, the iffy Orton will become a pariah quickly. They now have enough draft picks to select a quarterback, but rookie coach Josh McDaniels will have to live with constant comparisons of his QBs to Cutler. It's astonishing that the Denver propaganda machine keeps bringing up Cutler's 17-20 record as a starter. When a bad Broncos defense was able to hold teams to 21 points or fewer, Cutler's record was 13-1. The Bears, even with their defensive problems, held teams to 21 points or fewer eight times last season.

I'm not saying Jay Cutler will lead his new team to a Super Bowl anytime soon. He's going to miss not having Marshall and Eddie Royal as receivers and Mike Shanahan and Jeremy Bates as mentors. I can see frustration setting in when he realizes Smith is conservative by nature. But on the Chicago lakefront, the only impressive aerials traditionally have been planes at the summertime Air and Water Show.

Now, the footballs will look pretty, too.

"It will bode very well for everyone,'' Angelo said. "You win because of your quarterback. That's always been the centerpiece for most great football teams. Our goal is to be the best we can be and win the championship.''

I'm amazed, after eight years in charge, that he finally unlocked the code. I'm amazed, after 89 years, that the NFL's charter franchise has unearthed its first franchise quarterback. Dare I suggest the Cubs, at 101 years and counting, are the next Chicago shocker?

No, I do not.