Jay Cutler (American football)

Infobox NFLactive


caption=Jay Cutler
width=200
name=Jay Cutler
currentteam=Denver Broncos
currentnumber=6
currentposition=Quarterback
birthdate=birth date and age|1983|4|29
birthplace=Santa Claus, Indiana
heightft=6
heightin=3
weight=230
debutyear=2006
debutteam=Denver Broncos
highlights=
* Achievements
college=Vanderbilt
draftyear=2006
draftround=1
draftpick=11
pastteams=
* Denver Broncos (2006-present)
statweek=5
statseason=2008
statlabel1=TD-INT
statvalue1=39-23
statlabel2=Passing yards
statvalue2=6,000
statlabel3=QB Rating
statvalue3=90.6
nfl=CUT288111

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.

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. [http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=498&contentID=5907 DenverBroncos.com – Official Website Of The Denver Broncos ] ] He also started at safety for three years, intercepting nine passes as a senior, 12th overall in the state. 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 lateraled the ball to the halfback, Cole Seifrig, who then passed it to Cutler in the end zone to end the game. It was Seifrig's 4th touchdown pass of the season.cite web
url=http://www.ihsaa.org/b-football/00Class3AFinals.htm
title=2000 Indiana high school finals
publisher=IHSAA
accessdate=2006-12-11]

Cutler was named a first-team All-State selection by the Associated Press as a senior. 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.

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. In 2002, Cutler set the school record for touchdowns and rushing yards by a freshman and rushed for more yards than any other Southeastern Conference quarterback that year. The Associated Press honored him with a first-team freshman All-SEC selection. 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.

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. 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. 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, former 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."cite web
publisher=New York Times
date=2006-12-31
accessdate=2006-12-31
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/sports/football/31broncos.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
title=With Eye on Playoffs, Broncos Turn to Cutler
author=Judy Battista]

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.cite web
url=http://vanderbilt.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1087&CID=300031
title=Football History
publisher=VandySports.com (Rivals.com network)
accessdate=2006-11-26] 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. 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.

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).

Cutler graduated from Vanderbilt in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in human and organizational development.

NFL career

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 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. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=sando_mike&id=3084020 ESPN - To win big, Broncos must add to Cutler supporting cast - NFL ] ] [ [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/draft/2006-02-28-cutler-stock_x.htm USATODAY.com - Cutler's stock continues to skyrocket ] ] 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. [http://www.grogansports.com/article.asp?article=23]

After attracting interest from the Oakland Raiders, the Detroit Lions, the Arizona Cardinals and the 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 by then-starting quarterback, Jake Plummer. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12568906/ Opinion: Broncos put Plummer in tough predicament - NFL - MSNBC.com ] ] After the surprise pick by Denver, Cutler said, "We had no warning. I think I knew about 15 seconds before everyone else did." [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/specials/draft/2006/04/29/bc.fbn.broncosdraft.ap/ SI.com - 2006 NFL Draft - Broncos move up in draft to pick quarterback - Saturday April 29, 2006 4:00PM ] ] 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. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2532044 ESPN - QB Cutler agrees to six-year deal with Broncos - NFL ] ]

NFL

*Through Week 5 of the 2008 season

Achievements

College

* "The Sporting News" third-team freshman All-American (2002)
* Associated Press first-team freshman All-SEC (2002)
* First-team All-SEC (2005)
* SEC Offensive Player of the Year (2005)
* Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award finalist (2005)
* Vanderbilt University school career records:
** "Total offense": 9,953
** "Touchdown passes": 59
** "Passing yards": 8,697
** "Pass completions": 710
** "Pass attempts": 1,242
** "Combined touchdowns": 76

NFL

* AFC Offensive Player of the Month (September 2008)

Personal

Cutler 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.

On May 1, 2008, Cutler announced that he had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and needs daily insulin shots. [NFL.com, [http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8081b03e&template=with-video&confirm=true Cutler has Type 1 diabetes, career not in jeopardy] ] He is responding well with the insulin treatments. [ [http://www.nfl.com/news/story;jsessionid=2E36B8A73AF760F2FAEF9B26D0AE2647?id=09000d5d8093b349&template=with-video&confirm=true With diabetes under control, Cutler ready to roll] ]

Cutler works with Dedicated to Diabetes, which is a Denver-based organization that aims to improve public knowledge about diabetes. [ [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/02/diabetes-education-group-leader-contacts-qb/ Diabetes education group leader contacts QB : Broncos : The Rocky Mountain News ] ]

Cutler in popular culture

An animated representation of Cutler briefly appeared in the "South Park" episode, "Guitar Queer-o." The show is set in Colorado, and the characters are avid 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." [ [http://cbs4denver.com/broncos/local_story_318233517.html cbs4denver.com - Cutler Doesn't Take 'South Park' Insult Personally ] ]

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. [ [http://www.denverpost.com/husted/ci_8506620 O, hush: Denver edition of "Big Give" a big secret - The Denver Post ] ] [ [http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=359&contentID=8523 DenverBroncos.com – Official Website Of The Denver Broncos ] ] The episode aired on ABC on March 9, 2008.

References

External links

* [http://www.jaycutlerqb.com Jay Cutler's Official Website]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=9597 Jay Cutler] at ESPN.com
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=115374 Jay Cutler's ESPN College Football Profile]
* [http://www.garyallan.com/news.php?title=backstage_football&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 Backstage Football with Jay Cutler & Gary Allan]
* [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/sports/denver-broncos/jay-cutler/ Jay Cutler news]