By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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One overlooked aspect of this story is a theme that proves the strength of Cutler, and solidifies his persistence, perhaps more so than any other QB in the league.

Former Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler has been called a lot of things during his career. In college, some called him out for not being able to get the Commodores into the postseason. While with Denver in the NFL, others criticized his interceptions and untimely mistakes. Despite leading Chicago to the conference championship game over the weekend and standing as the most successful Bears’ quarterback in recent history, Cutler is being called into question again.

Having missed all but one drive of the second half against Green Bay on Sunday due to a sprained MCL, Cutler’s toughness is now in the spotlight. In the past, some have called the Santa Claus, Indiana-native sullen, dry and irritable. Now, many are citing his toughness.

The life of an athlete is one of constant evaluation. Just as Cutler was poked and prodded as a prospect coming out of Vanderbilt, his NFL career has been one of daily observation. Challenging his fight and desire, however, has taken things to an entirely new level. Every major media outlet in the country Monday morning had a story on Cutler’s inability, perhaps willing inability, to perform in the second half of Chicago’s NFC Championship Game loss. From some current and former players to many in the media offering disparaging opinions, Monday, not Sunday, was where Cutler took the biggest hits.

The common consensus was that the talented signal caller lacked grit, standing on the sidelines instead of pushing through an injured knee in the second half against the Packers at Soldier Field. His head coach offered a different perspective.

“As far as Jay, Jay didn’t take himself out of the game. If you’re going to attack somebody, you should be attacking me. As a head football coach, and our medical staff, we’re the ones … he wanted to go back in,” Lovie Smith explained. “He was injured and went back in in the second half. So I see it as the complete opposite of how it’s being portrayed right now.”

The portrayal has proven to be a grandscale showing. Cutler, more so than other key players from the Super Bowl-bound Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers, has been the post-championship week storyline. In a game where the NFC’s best signal caller led one of the most proud franchises in league history back to the promised land and a no-name third-stringer nearly made history for Chicago, Cutler, though on the shelf, has also remained on center stage.

Strong and consistent across the board, the overwhelming tone has been one of questioned perseverance: could Cutler have fought through the pain, was he strong enough in his team’s biggest moment?

One overlooked aspect of this story is a theme that proves the strength of Cutler, and solidifies his day-to-day persistence, perhaps more so than any other quarterback in the league. At 24 years old, away from Vanderbilt and already established in the NFL, Cutler was diagnosed with type one diabetes. He became one of just a few million people with the chronic illness, a health condition where the pancreas renders itself completely useless and constant blood sugar monitoring along with diet and insulin treatment become immediate life-saving functionalities. Diabetes is a daily illness, a ravaging condition that offers no timeouts for those affected, no breaks on the body.

“I’d always prided myself on working out and being strong in the weight room, but I had nothing,” Cutler said back in 2008. “I’d get through about half the workout and just be done. I’d go home and sleep all day long, and it’s not like I’d been out partying the night before. I was taking every nutritional pill and drink known to man, and they weren’t working.”

Type one diabetes, which only about 5-10% of all diabetics have, is different than type two in that constant insulin is needed through either injections or use of the insulin pump. Cutler, like all with the illness, must monitor his blood sugar very closely each day and take care of his body accordingly.

Among the list of potential complications are a variety of organ damages, neurological disorders, mental adversities and the slowed healing of some wounds.

“Generally, the skin and soft tissues can take longer to heal in people with diabetes. This is important with sports injuries, abrasions to the skin, tendon, and ligament injuries,” wrote Dr. Brian Halpern, M.D. in an article on enzinearticle.com. “Cuts and bruises may become infected more easily so extra care is important. Also, scarring is often more prominent.”

Perhaps this played a role in the decision of the Chicago coaches and medical staff in resting Cutler. Perhaps not. Maybe, and this seems more likely, it was as simple as the staff not thinking an injured Cutler gave the Bears the best chance to win. Regardless, the fact that we are questioning the toughness of an individual who has overcome the rigors of type one diabetes seems, in some ways on the surface at least, slightly nearsided. It’s easy to understand the criticism, natural to assume the worst. And with all of that in mind along with the past media reports on the signal caller, many are probably hesitant to give Cutler the benefit of the doubt.

The NFL is a sport predicated on strength, pride and a warrior-mentality. The physical and emotional demands of being a professional football player are most than most could even imagine. To excel in the NFL through those parameters, with the constant pull of type one diabetes as a daily source of adversity, takes a dedicated individual, a fighter’s approach. In gauging Cutler, will power might actually be the one quality he has more than and most of all.