You Heard it Here First (For Once)

A couple of weeks ago, I dropped a scandalriffulous rumor into a post about young Jay-Jay. I won't make you all go back and search for it, so enjoy.

For those with click-thru aversions, the cliffs notes: Jay, Type 1 diabetic, is pretty fond of the drink. Very fond. Apparently swills-nightly-to-excess fond. (Kind of like we here at the House, honestly.)

At the time, it was just scuttlebutt, albeit pretty well-sourced scuttlebutt. I'd heard variations on the theme for a while--Denver isn't the biggest city and my recent career has been split between working for a newspaper and working in a bar--but never really considered that whatever he was doing was endangering his health, because, as everyone knows, diabetics who drink a *lot* are asking for some serious complications. Like the death.

But then came the big Cassel-for-Cutler kerfuffle. Made me think that, huh, perhaps there is some more to this situation than "he's a better fit for my system." I posted my suspicions here at the House; as far as I know, we were the only site to mention anything even close to the idea (except, of course, for Kissing Suzy Kolber, which posted the above photo last year to no great uproar.)

But now, open the floodgates:

As for why McDaniels was so hard pressed to roll Cutler out on the next Rocky Mountain train to “Anywhere but Here-land” my source (with primary knowledge of these conversations) said there were consistent themes in the coach’s concerns about Cutler.

(Again this was relayed to my ears, from their ears. The following is what was heard by my source in these trade whispers, not what FOX31 cites as definite facts about Cutler.)

Two things that kept coming up were concerns about Cutler's alcohol consumption (given his diabetes) and "that's he not that (football) sharp."

"That scared the crap out of McDaniels,” the source told me.

That post, by the way, was put up earlier in the week, taken down and edited to add the word "diabetes."

As for the rest of that blog post--which Fox takes pains to mention isn't theirs, even though I sincerely doubt that Camp Cutler could successfully sue for defamation--I'm not too fond of reporters explaining how they almost got a scoop, much less using "lol," but I imagine that this source, whoever they are, is right on the money.

Now, Jay could probably have kept a-swilling away with no one caring for the rest of his career. Especially the lushes on this site. But now that this whole thing has blown on up, we're duty-bound to discuss it, especially if it means we end up starting effin' Chris Simms next season. Watch your liver, Cutler.

But even the facts of Jay's potential health issues are unimportant in the light of this: the House of Georges, calling it before it happens, bitches. We're plugged in like Wii.

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What?

So it appears, with evidence larding the interstubtubes, that the Broncos' new pair of Big Young Brains in Charge actively tried to trade Jay Cutler for Matt Cassel.

Let's get something straight first: up until about 24 hours ago, I was a big fan of what Mickey D and Colonel Xanders were putting out there. I loved the Dawkins signing. Sure, he may have lost a step, but a guy who brings it the way he does can be an invaluable part of re-shaping this defense, and he forces fumbles. Led the Eagles in that category only last year.

Renaldo Hill is a solid young player, (a healthy) Correll Buckhalter can be a cog in short yardage situations, the long snapper is slightly larger than our old one, and that's fine because I think we needed to get bigger across the board. He also poses for photos with chicks in bars, which is solid in many important ways. Andra Davis is a good tackler. Colorado State grad and Beloved Ram Football Hero David Anderson, assuming the Texans don't match the offer sheet, can morph into another Brandon Stokely. And they did it all without overspending.

But then...



Matt Cassel may be a good NFL quarterback. He had a good year in '08, even though he took a ton of sacks playing behind a pretty fine pass-blocking line and was throwing to some of the best wideouts in the league (although to be fair, so was #6).

But man, I just don't buy it. I don't know why. I seriously don't think this guy is a superstar in the making or anything the way people have set him up to be, and while his stats are pretty similar--and in some cases, well below--Cutler's, his arm and overall athleticism aren't even in the same postal code.

So for a career backup who had basically one excellent half-season in the NFL, would you give up a guy who, though he's definitely something of a diva, is widely considered to be one of the best young QBs in the league already? Of course you wouldn't. Even you aren't that fucking stupid.

But the Boy Geniuses didn't just consider it, they worked to make it happen. And the worst part? They failed.

That's right. It would have been better for the Denver Broncos if this asinine, proposed three-way trade had actually happened. Because now, you've got a stampy Cutler actively agitating to be let go, no Cassel and no better option. Way to cause a huge-ass problem by not making a smaller mistake, you two.

It just boggles. What the fuck? What could they possibly have been thinking? What's the plan, here? Piss off your temperamental young star in effort to toughen him up, as some are suggesting? That's nonsensical. Even if they were only entertaining offers and not initiating them, as Adam Schefter said yesterday, how can they not be smarter than that?

Or--and this could be the one thing that ends up excusing this--maybe they know something that we don't.

A little story. Now that I've been outed as an official (former) member of the news media, and now that the outlet for which I had been employed is a mere memory, I can share a bit of gossip from my ex-boss.

Said ex-boss knew a lot of people around town. He'd been at the Rocky, and in Denver, off and on since the early '80s. One of his acquaintances was former Bronco kicker Rich Karlis, who'd become a success in business following his barefooted career. His job with Qwest brought him into contact with Cutler via Cutler's television show--and ol' Rich said that Jay the Diabetic couldn't take the sound stage without pounding red wine. And that he ditched the final episode of the season, leaving Channel 4 (I think it was) in the lurch.

He was replaced by Brandon Marshall, who Karlis said was a gem of a dude, but I think the gist was that Karlis thought he was a complete head case.

It's third-hand info from a guy who missed wide right a lot, but if it's true it hints at some pretty serious problems with ol' Jay. Type 1 diabetics who drink more than a very small, measured amount can have massive health problems--the House has a very close friend whose ex was a diabetic alky, and that shit can wreak havok on your system.

Which begs the larger question: is The Savior a drunk?

I'm not throwing stones here, Lord knows. I drink. Frequently, too frequently, to excess, and often alone in a closet, crying (that last part isn't true).

But I'm not diabetic. I'm also not the quarterback of the Denver Broncos, a man burdened with the hopes and dreams of football nerds like myself, a man who makes millions of fucking dollars a year to not do stupid shit. And I recently got a haircut.

We'll see how this all pans out. But right now, this is the biggest mistake of the early run of our own Mile High Version of "The Patriot Way."
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