Hair Wars: Jay Cutler

Is That Chicago Or Denver Colors?

In a recent interview with Michigan Avenue Magazine Chicago Bear’s quarterback got personal about his life on and of the football field. Jay Cutler is not so different from any other 26-year-old single guy,barring the six-year, $47 million contract he signed in 2006.

Michigan Avenue: Growing up in Indiana, were you a Bears fan?
Jay Cutler: All my relatives were Bears fans so I naturally gravitated that way. It was tough growing up in Southern Indiana because there were a lot of Colts fans. We never watched a Colts game; it was always the Bears.

MA: So is your arm insured?
JC: I’ve got an overall insurance policy. Before my senior year we got a $2 million insurance policy. I can’t ride a motorcycle, can’t ski—anything that could potentially hurt my career.

MA: Your sister told me that your parents—who had followed you to Denver—were so excited when they heard the news that she could hear them chanting on the phone, “We’re going home!”
JC: I called my parents up and they had just heard it on the radio and they wanted to know if it was true. I was like, “Yeah, absolutely it’s true!” They threw the phone down and they were yelling and screaming.

MA: There is so much hype about you right now, with people saying you’re the best player to join the team since the ’40s. How does that make you feel?
JC: I haven’t done anything on the field yet. I’m listening to some of the stories that people have told me, some of the radio people telling me that people are calling in and they’re so excited they can’t even talk. I think the fans are excited; everyone on the team is excited. I’m excited.

MA: I’m flattered that you’re giving us your first big interview in town. You haven’t done a lot publicly yet.
JC: Until we get rolling in the season and I establish myself on the field, I’m not going to do a whole lot of stuff. You’re not going to see me in any commercials, any TV shows. You’re not going to see me on every magazine cover.

MA: Speaking of health, last year it must have come as a shock when you were diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
JC: I lost 35 pounds the second half of the ’07 season. I usually play at 235 and I played the last game in December at 200. And we talked to the trainers and doctors and a lot of the consensus was, “It’s just stress.” I couldn’t get through the first 10 minutes of a workout. I was getting up eight, nine, 10 times a night to go to the bathroom, my mouth was always dry—just the classic symptoms of diabetes. They make you do blood tests and physicals before they let you go back for workouts, and that’s how we found it. I was relieved. One of the first things they told me was, “You’re going to be able to play and you’re going to be able to do everything you want to do on and off the field.” From that point on it was figuring out what diabetes was and how to treat it.

For more picture and the rest of the interview click here Via Michigan Avenue Magazine:

(Good Look)