Jay Cutler (American football)
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| Denver Broncos — No. 6 | |
| Quarterback | |
| Date of birth: April 29, 1983 | |
| Place of birth: Santa Claus, Indiana | |
| Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | Weight: 230 lb (100 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
|---|---|
| 2006 for the Denver Broncos | |
| Career history | |
| College: Vanderbilt | |
| NFL Draft: 2006 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11 | |
Teams:
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| Career highlights and awards | |
| Selected NFL statistics (through Week 17 of the 2007 NFL season) |
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| TD-INT | 29-19 |
| Passing yards | 4,498 |
| QB Rating | 88.2 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983 in Santa Claus, Indiana) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Broncos with the 11th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Vanderbilt University.
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[edit] Early years
Cutler attended Heritage Hills High School in Lincoln City, Indiana. He started three years at quarterback, amassing a combined 26-1 record for his junior and senior years, including a perfect 15-0 during his senior year. Cutler and his team outscored opponents 746-85, including a 90-0 shutout at Pike Central. During his senior year, Cutler connected on 122-of-202 passes (60.4%) for 2,252 yards with 31 touchdowns, while rushing 65 times for 493 yards with 11 touchdowns.[1] He also started at safety for three years, intercepting nine passes as a senior, 12th overall in the state.[1] His team's perfect record during his senior year included the school's first 3A state championship, where Heritage Hills beat Zionsville in overtime, 27-24. The most notable play of the game occurred when Cutler lateralled the ball to the halfback, Cole Seifrig, who then passed it to Cutler in the endzone to end the game. It was Seifrig's 4th touchdown pass of the season.[2]
Cutler was named a first-team All-State selection by the Associated Press as a senior.[1] In addition to playing football in high school, he was a first-team All-State selection in basketball and garnered honorable mention All-State accolades as a shortstop in baseball.[1]
[edit] College career
Cutler attended Vanderbilt University, where he started all 45 career games that he played for the Commodores, the most starts by a quarterback in school history. He did not miss a game due to injury.[1] In 2002, Cutler set the school record for touchdowns and rushing yards by a freshman and rushed for more yards than any other SEC quarterback that year. The Associated Press honored him with a first-team freshman All-SEC selection.[1] In 2004, as a junior, Cutler completed 61.0 percent of his passes, setting a school record, while throwing for 1,844 yards with 10 touchdowns and a career-low five interceptions.[1]
The 2005 season, Cutler's final year of play at Vanderbilt, was his most successful. As an 11-game starter, he completed 273-of-462 passes (59.1%) for 3,073 yards, 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions, as he became the first Commodore to win the SEC Offensive Player of the Year (coaches and media) since end Bob Goodridge in 1967.[1] With his senior-season performance, Cutler became the second Commodore to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a season, while his 273 completions and 21 touchdowns ranked second on the school’s single-season list.[1] He led the Commodores to victories over Wake Forest, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Richmond and Tennessee. The Commodores also scored the second most points ever (42) laid upon the Florida Gators at their current home field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Vanderbilt nearly upset the 13th-ranked Gators before falling 49-42 in the second overtime. Reflecting on Cutler's college career, Denver Broncos safety John Lynch said, "If this guy can take a bunch of future doctors and lawyers and had them competing against the Florida Gators, this guy is a stud."[3]
The Commodores ended their season, and Cutler's Vanderbilt career, at Tennessee against the Tennessee Volunteers with a 28-24 win. The victory was Vanderbilt's first over the Volunteers since 1982, the year before Cutler was born. The win also marked Vanderbilt's first victory over Tennessee on the Volunteers' home field in Knoxville since 1975.[4] Cutler passed for three touchdowns and 315 yards during the game, becoming the first quarterback in school history to record four consecutive 300-yard passing performances.[1] Cutler's final play in college was the game-winning (and streak-ending) touchdown pass to teammate Earl Bennett against Tennessee. A finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (nation’s top senior quarterback), Cutler was a first-team All-SEC pick by the league’s coaches and led the conference with a school-record 3,288 yards of total offense.[1]
While at Vanderbilt, Cutler was a three-year captain and four-year starter, setting school career records for total offense (9,953 yds.), touchdown passes (59), passing yards (8,697), pass completions (710), pass attempts (1,242) and combined touchdowns (76).[1]
Cutler graduated from Vanderbilt in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in human and organizational development.[1]
[edit] NFL career
[edit] 2006 NFL Draft
Cutler was expected to be a high draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, and was ranked by many experts as the third-best quarterback prospect, after Matt Leinart of USC and Vince Young of Texas. Some mock drafts as recent as April 1, 2006, had projected him as being selected ahead of Leinart, but behind Vince Young. Still, other experts such as ESPN's Chris Mortensen and Ron Jaworski tabbed him as the best quarterback available in the draft. Many scouts believed he had better arm strength than Young and Leinart, and compared him to Brett Favre for his arm, play style and gunslinger attitude.[5][6] At the 2006 NFL Scouting Combine, Cutler completed 23 repetitions of a 225-pound bench press (more than some linemen) and ran a 40-yard dash in 4.77 seconds.[7]
After attracting interest from the Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals and Baltimore Ravens, Cutler was surprisingly selected by the Denver Broncos with the 11th pick in the draft, after the Broncos acquired the pick from the St. Louis Rams by trading their 15th and 68th overall picks. Many believed Cutler was chosen by the Broncos due to the lackluster performance in the previous season's AFC Championship Game by then-starting quarterback, Jake Plummer.[8] After the surprise pick by Denver, Cutler said, "We had no warning. I think I knew about 15 seconds before everyone else did."[9] Cutler, as predicted by most, became the third quarterback chosen, after Young (3rd overall) and Leinart (10th). He is the third first round pick to come from Vanderbilt, preceded by Will Wolford and Bill Wade. Cutler agreed to terms on a six-year contract on July 27, 2006 worth $48 million, which included $11 million in bonuses.[10]
[edit] Denver Broncos[edit] Rookie seasonAfter a strong training camp in 2006, Cutler was promoted from third to second on the Broncos' quarterback depth chart ahead of Bradlee Van Pelt. He passed for more yards than any other rookie in the preseason. On November 27, 2006, Shanahan officially announced that Cutler would replace Jake Plummer as starting quarterback because, as Shanahan said, "I think he gives us the best chance to win now."[13][14] This announcement capped weeks of speculation and rumors about Cutler's impending promotion to a starting role.[15] Cutler's regular-season debut was a 23-20 home loss to the Seattle Seahawks on a frigid night on December 3. Cutler completed 10 of 21 passes for 143 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His first career NFL touchdown pass was to tight end Stephen Alexander in the second quarter quarter of the game.[16] His other touchdown pass occurred in the fourth quarter on a memorable 71-yard TD pass play to Brandon Marshall, also a rookie, which tied the game 20-20. The play was one of the longest TD passes for a debut in NFL history and was also the second-longest pass play between two rookies in Broncos history.[1] On December 10, 2006, in a road loss against the San Diego Chargers, Cutler connected with tight end Tony Scheffler for two touchdowns in a span of 48 seconds, which tied for the fastest in league history that two rookies produced a pair of scoring passes (equaling the mark established by Charlie Conerly and Bill Swiacki of the New York Giants in 1948).[1] Cutler's first win came in his third start on December 17, which was a 37-20 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Arizona.[17] He finished the game 21-of-31 with 261 yards, two touchdowns, an interception and a QB rating of 101.7. It was the highest single-game rating for a Broncos rookie QB since John Elway posted a 117.4 rating vs. the Cleveland Browns on December 4, 1983.[1] One of Cutler's passing touchdowns in the game against Arizona was a 54-yard throw to Javon Walker on the Broncos' third play of the game. The throw traveled 65 yards in the air. Shanahan said to the media, "You saw what he could do today. It doesn't take a genius out there to figure out this guy is very composed, can make all the throws and plays with a lot of confidence."[18] Cutler then led the Broncos to a Christmas Eve win over the Cincinnati Bengals, 24-23, in his fourth start on the season.[19] He went 12-of-23 with 179 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also directed the Broncos on a 99-yard drive in the third quarter that culminated on a Mike Bell two-yard touchdown run. The game was the first of two consecutive Christmas Eve games that Cutler and the Broncos played. As a result of the two passing touchdowns in the game against the Bengals, Cutler became the first rookie QB in NFL history (second player overall, joining the Washington Redskins' Mark Rypien in 1988) to throw for at least two touchdowns in each of his first four games played.[1] He also became just the second rookie in league history (fifth player overall) to throw at least two touchdown passes in each of his first four starts.[1] The only other rookie to accomplish the feat was Dan Marino in his 1983 rookie season.[20] The Broncos' quest to clinch a playoff berth came up short in the final game of the season, when they fell at home 26-23 in overtime to the San Francisco 49ers. The loss dropped the Broncos to a 9-7 overall record and an uncharacteristic 4-4 record at home. Despite sustaining a concussion in the 1st half, Cutler finished 21-of-32 with 230 yards and a touchdown, and led Denver on a game-tying touchdown drive in the closing minutes of regulation to force overtime. In five games played on the season, Cutler finished with a record of 2-3, and went 81-of-137 for 1,001 yards, 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, earning a passer rating of 88.5 in the process.[21] He posted the second-highest TD percentage (6.6) and third-highest TD-to-INT ratio (1.8) among NFL rookies since 1970 with at least 125 passing attempts.[1] [edit] 2007 seasonThe 2007 NFL season marked Cutler's first full season as the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos. In the first game of the season against the Buffalo Bills, Cutler led Denver to a comeback win on a 12-play, 42-yard drive culminating in a Jason Elam 42-yard field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter.[1] Cutler also posted career highs during the game in attempts (39), completions (23) and yards (304).[1] He led Denver to a second straight comeback win the next week in the home opener against the Oakland Raiders. Late in regulation, Cutler moved the team 78 yards in 15 plays for the game-tying field goal with 2:18 remaining.[1] The game went into overtime, where he engineered a 52-yard drive that led to another game-winning field goal by Elam. Cutler had a touchdown pass during the game, making him the first Broncos passer to begin his Broncos career with at least one touchdown pass in his first seven starts.[1] Cutler's streak extended to nine games until a 41-3 home loss to the San Diego Chargers in the fifth game of the season. He recorded his first career rushing touchdown the previous week against the Indianapolis Colts at Indianapolis in the third quarter.[1] After the bye week in week six, the Broncos came out (after going 2-3 to start the season, with both wins coming on last-second Jason Elam field goals) and beat the 4-1 Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-28 (again winning on a last-second Elam field goal). Cutler had a QB rating of 106.7 during the game, as he completed 22-of-29 passes (career-high 75.9%) for 248 yards and a personal-best three touchdowns.[1] He also rushed for a career-high 41 yards and a career-long run of 31 yards. Cutler was named NBC Sunday Night Football's Co-Horse Trailer Player of the Game (joining Elam). His career-opening streak of 11 games with at least 1 interception came to an end the next week, when the Broncos were able to take the 6-1 Green Bay Packers to overtime on a game-tying, 89-yard drive led by Cutler with 2:27 remaining (Elam kicked the tying field goal). However, Denver lost in overtime, 19-13, on Green Bay's first play from scrimmage. Cutler was knocked out early in the next game against the Detroit Lions with a leg injury, handing over the reins to backup Patrick Ramsey. The Broncos lost that game 44-7, although, with Cutler back for the next game, Denver was able to rebound for a 27-11 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The next week, in a Monday Night Football home game against the Tennessee Titans, Cutler faced fellow 2006 NFL Draft class quarterback Vince Young for the first ever time in the regular season.[22] The Broncos won the game, 34-20. Cutler posted a 137.0 passer rating (the second best mark for his career), going 16-of-21 for 200 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Both of his touchdowns occurred on passing plays of over 40 yards, which made Cutler the first Broncos quarterback since John Elway in 1995 to throw for at least two touchdowns of more than 40 yards in one game. Denver set a franchise record with four touchdowns of longer than 40 yards in the win over the Titans.[22] The victory improved the Broncos record to 5-5, moving them into a first place tie with the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West. The Broncos lost the next two games (thus, falling out of the first place tie with San Diego in the AFC West), but then went on to beat the Kansas City Chiefs at home in blowout fashion, 41-7. In the game, Cutler passed for 4 touchdowns and recorded a career-best quarterback rating of 141.0.[23] Denver finished the regular season with a 7-9 record, missing the playoffs for a second straight year. Cutler started all 16 games in the season, completing 297-of-467 passes (63.6%) for 3,497 yards, 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He was the NFL’s 12th-ranked passer (88.1) and also had the tenth-most passing yards (3,497). Furthermore, Cutler was the league’s ninth-best third-down passer, with a 92.1 passer rating (73-of-125 for 901 yards, 8 TD and 3 INT). His 3,497 passing yards ranked as the seventh-best single-season performance in team history. He also had the third-best single-season completion percentage (63.6) in team history.[1] Following the 2007 season, Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler went to Atlanta together to train and work on timing for the 2008 season.[24] [edit] Statistics[edit] College
[edit] NFL
[edit] Achievements[edit] College
[edit] PersonalCutler does volunteer work for mentally challenged young people through Vanderbilt's "Best Buddies" program. During the 2007 offseason, Cutler started the Jay Cutler Foundation, which partnered with Mile High United Way’s Youth Success Initiative to help at-risk youth overcome obstacles and graduate from high school.[1] On May 1, 2008, Cutler announced that he had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and needs daily insulin shots.[26] Since his diagnosis with diabetes Jay has partnered with [Dedicated to Diabetes]http://www.dedicatedtodiabetes . They are working on an awareness campaign and educational programs. The organization aims to improve knowledge of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. [edit] Cutler in popular cultureAn animated representation of Cutler briefly appeared in the South Park episode, "Guitar Queer-o." The show is set in Colorado, and the characters are Broncos fans. Two characters, Stan and Kyle, meet Cutler and say, "Nice to meet you. I mean, you kinda suck, but my dad says you might be good some day." Cutler himself later responded to the episode, saying, "It was cool. I thought it was funny. They can make fun of me if they want to."[27] Cutler, along with Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler and former Broncos backup quarterback Preston Parsons, took part in an episode of Oprah's Big Give filmed in Denver in 2007.[28][29] The episode aired on ABC on March 9, 2008. [edit] References
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/02/diabetes-education-group-leader-contacts-qb/ [edit] External links
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