Jay Cutler has been retired now for some time. As things have settled down, Chicago Bears fans have started to gain a little more appreciation for what the quarterback was able to accomplish during his time with the team. Fans have kept tabs on him since he left, embracing all the things he’s been doing since. Cutler, for all his flaws, never stopped being an entertaining guy on and of the field. That’s why it was so interesting when he decided to appear on the Pardon My Take podcast with Barstool Big Cat.
The entire interview is outstanding. Cutler doesn’t hold anything back, addressing all sorts of subjects from his life after football to his friendship with Aaron Rodgers and advice he has for Mitch Trubisky. Some of his best stuff though came when Big Cat brought up the subject of Mike Martz. Everybody who followed the Bears from 2010 to 2011 knows of the former offensive coordinator. He came in with a big reputation from his days with the Greatest Show on Turf Rams a decade prior.
It was felt he might be able to breathe some life into Cutler and the stagnant Chicago offense. All things considered there was a lot of success between the two including a trip to the NFC championship game. However, it soon became clear the quarterback wasn’t the biggest fan of Martz and his play calling.
His breakdown of what their relationship was like is pure gold.
“I’ll give it to Mike. He had no conscience. You got to respect it. He was brilliant too. He was unbelievably smart but he went into the game and he was literally playing Madden…with human beings. It was just chess pieces…He always thought the next play was the one.
He told me one time, we were talking about a play and he said, ‘Hey, just take seven steps and throw it right there.’ And I go, ‘Mike, I don’t how I feel about that.’ He goes, ‘If the receiver’s not there, it’s not going to be your fault.’ I’m like, ‘It kind of is though. You don’t have an interception thing in your total after the game. It’s going to be my fault.’ He’s like, ‘He’ll be there though.’ I said, ‘I don’t think he’s going to be there.’ He says, ‘Let’s just call and you throw it right there and let’s see what happens.'”
Jay Cutler made it clear he didn’t hate Martz the person
One can understand why Cutler hated Martz’s offense so much. He was sacked 75 times in 25 games while playing in it. Sure the team had a lot of success, going 17-8 during that run but it took a physical toll on the quarterback. That was probably why he lashed out at the coach during games. He made it clear though he didn’t hate Martz the person. They were always “super cool” with each other. It was the offensive system and the way he called plays.
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That relationship came to an end in January of 2012 when Martz and the Bears parted ways after an offensive collapse late in 2011. Cutler would play under four more offensive coordinators before he finally left Chicago in 2017. None of them quite had the same success with him that Martz did. At least from a wins and losses perspective. As contentious as their relationship was, there is no denying it produced results. Cutler at least acknowledges that much.
