D.J. Moore was a good player for the Chicago Bears. People tend to forget this. From 2010 to 2011, he had eight interceptions. By 2012 it seemed like he was the unquestioned nickel corner on defense and poised to make a lot of money if he could deliver another strong season. Things started out well. He had two pass deflections against Indianapolis in the opening day win. However, his own impulsiveness and the shadow of Jay Cutler soon changed his life forever.
In Week 2, the Bears were thoroughly dismissed in a frustrating 23-10 loss up in Green Bay. Things got a little out of hand when quarterback Jay Cutler was caught shoving and yelling at left tackle Jamarcus Webb who’d been struggling the entire game. Cutler earned a lot of criticism for that and several teammates weren’t happy about it either. Moore being one of them.
He explained in his latest #StoryTimeWithDJ segment on Earl Bennett’s blog how the coaches responded to it. Then how he reacted.
“Lovie walked in and gave his normal “Do better, be better speech.” Sometimes you could guess the speech word for word we had heard it so much. Obviously, he addressed the situation and told us to not talk about it with the media. We leave the team meeting room and the media personnel come over to me and I said my peace. Why in the hell did I do that?! I just said the normal stuff you say when a teammate is obviously wrong. I left not thinking it was a big deal. Take a nap and awake to First Take talking about my comments regarding Jay Cutler. My heart dropped to my shoes…”
Calling out Jay Cutler ended up costing Moore his career
Moore knew right away he was in trouble. Smith was guaranteed to call him into his office. The only thing he didn’t know was how bad the punishment was going to be. He soon found out that calling out a teammate publicly was bad enough. Yet what really did him in was disobeying the coach’s orders after expressly being told not to.
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“…Abruptly, someone taps me on my shoulder saying that Lovie wanted to see me. Damn, here we go. I walk into his office and it is obvious he was past pissed. He simply said, “I told you not to say anything about it.” I replied “I know, but I think he deserves the criticism, he was wrong.” Shaking his head, but not to disagree with me, he stated “I told you not to say anything.” We had words back and forth, then he ended it by letting me know I would pay for this one.”
It didn’t happen right away. Moore kept playing over the next few weeks, even grabbing two interceptions against Dallas and Detroit. However, by the end of October, the team started drastically decreasing his snaps and eventually not dressing him at all. He returned for some minor action in late December but the writing was on the wall by then.
Moore was allowed to hit free agency that offseason. Having failed to capitalize on his contract year, he could only manage a minimal deal with the Carolina Panthers. He appeared in two games for them before being released in October. He never played another snap in the NFL. Keep in mind he is still only 32-years old. Odds are he would’ve played a lot longer had he kept his mouth shut.
That decision remains one of the biggest regrets of his life.
