When you look at Jay Cutler, he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who appears to be having fun playing football. In fact, there’s an entire meme industry built out of the idea that he seems like he’d rather be hanging out in his backyard smoking his cigarette and drinking a beer.
Today was a good day. I can't imagine an NFL season without Smokin Jay Cutler. pic.twitter.com/a7Os9zfI6T
— Joe Ruffino (@Joe_Ruffino) August 8, 2017
Yes and no, says Cutler in an interview with the Miami Herald. The new Dolphins signal-caller admitted that his eight-year tenure with the Chicago Bears, which ended with a lot more losing than winning, really wore down his enthusiasm for the game. When he retired rather than search for a new team to play for, the toll losing had taken on him helped make that decision.
“I think you can talk about anybody in the league, no one likes to lose, no one likes going through those situations. 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.”
Cutler was quick to point out, however, that he still has a passion for the game and will try to bring that with him to Miami this season (a notion at odds with his demeanor at the introductory press conference).
“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.”
The Dolphins aren’t expected to win any titles this season and most of the prognostications have them in the middle of the pack. That’s a bunch more losses Cutler can expect to be involved with this season. We’ll have to see how long his enthusiasm keeps up or if we’ll see a return of Smokin’ Jay Cutler sooner than later.
