Former Players Rip Cutler's Sideline Antics

During Thursday night's abysmal Bears loss to the Packers, Jay Cutler was seen getting in the face of his offensive linemen and even bumping into left tackle J'Marcus Webb. Cutler was sacked seven times during the game, but his antics were seen as over-the-line. Four different retired NFL players spoke out against what Cutler did.

NFL Hall-of-Famer Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowls as the quarterback for the Steelers in the '70s. He said the screaming and yelling is counterproductive.

"People were complaining about it last night; bumping the linemen, screaming and hollering; that to me is counter-productive, you don’t do that. I prided myself, I took great pride in never saying a word. I never complained to my linemen, I never ever called them out, I never said an unkind word about them, I never yelled." 

Retired former Bear Adewale Ogunleye played with Cutler during the quarterback's first year in Chicago. He pointed out that Cutler should look at his own record of throwing four interceptions in the game before ripping others.

"If you live in a glass house, you can’t throw any stones. So the way I am looking at the game, no one is yelling at Jay when he is throwing the ball three (four) times to their defenders. And you’ve got to have some sense of accountability. At the end of the day, you start losing the respect of your teammates, you start losing the respect of that offensive line when publicly you’re bumping people and yelling at them in their face. I don’t think it is the right thing to do.”
 
Ogunleye went on to suggest that the Bears players will have to police themselves on this issue and said Brian Urlacher may have to step up.

As a seven-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman, Lomas Brown blocked for Barry Sanders and Rodney Peete. He said if he were in Webb's place, there would have been a fight on the sidelines.

"I'll tell you what, if that had been Jay Cutler and he would have came up and bumped me, you all would have been talking about the fight me and him had on that sideline,” Brown said on ESPN's First Take.

Tedy Bruschi won three Super Bowls and was recognized as the locker room leader of the New England Patriots. He said Cutler owes Webb an apology.

"To tell you the truth, this has to be made right, somehow, someway," Bruschi said. "Jay Cutler -- I think publicly -- has to acknowledge the error of his ways and apologize to the entire offensive line. Because you just didn't pick on one member of the offensive line. ... Offensive linemen will tell you, they are five guys playing at one time, but they are all linked. That's the most solid positional group on the football field. They eat together, meet together and spend so much time together, and when you pick on one of their own, they take it personally."

These four men come from different eras of playing in the NFL, different positions and different NFL teams, but they all share the same opinion. You don't come after a teammate like that. You don't get in your teammate's face and bump into him and think they're going to respond well. Treat a man with respect and there's a much better chance he will produce.