Forte defends Cutler

bearmick

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http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2016/06/30/matt-forte-on-jay-cutler-i-feel-bad-for-him/

There’s a trend starting to form among former Chicago Bears who wind up playing for the New York Jets.

They all like to talk about Jay Cutler.

After the Bears traded Brandon Marshall to New York last year, the disgruntled receiver spoke multiple times to the media about the relationship with his former quarterback.

This year is Matt Forte’s turn, and he took a slightly different approach. He signed with the Jets as a free agent this offseason, but he wasn’t critical of his former quarterback. In fact, he feels bad for Cutler because of how he is treated by the media and the lack of respect he receives.

It was a refreshing bit of honesty from Forte about the narrative around the Bears’ quarterback.

“I feel bad for him because the cameras are constantly on him,” Forte told Pro Football Weekly. “They show his body language, and I mean, if you look on the sideline and something goes bad, everybody’s body language is that way. He’s the quarterback. He’s the one in the spotlight.”

He went on a longer rant, defending the highly criticized Cutler, who Forte has seen evolve throughout his time in Chicago.

“In the media, that’s the thing to pick on. That’s the thing that sells papers, so that’s what they’re gonna pick on. That’s what they’re gonna write about no matter what he says. I’ve seen him grow from when he came in, it was my second year, all the way till now. He has kids, family, married – all that stuff, so he’s grown a lot. And, his personality has changed a lot over the years.”

It’s encouraging to see a former Bears’ skill player go out of his way to defend Chicago’s quarterback, even when they aren’t prompted to. Forte and Cutler clearly had a strong relationship, and the change in scenery for the running back allowed him to be honest with reporters about his opinion of the media’s treatment of one of the NFL’s most criticized players.
 

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Cutler does get too much shit from the media and fans. I understand and share the fans frustration, his play pisses me off sometimes, he throws a stupid pick I yell at the TV just like all of us do.

I doooon't care how he treats the media, fuck the media, when I say he takes too much shit I'm not talking about his play, that comes with the position and poor play. He takes too much shit for his demeanor in pressers and on the sideline. "He acts like a petulant child", when fans complain about the way Jay acts it distracts from real deserved criticism of his play, you know, on the field.
 

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I miss Forte. I suspect I will miss him more whenever the ball is thrown to Jeremy Langford.
 

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Original article:

New York Jets RB Matt Forte sheds light on relationships with Brandon Marshall and Jay Cutler


Forte spoke as a guest interviewee at Christ Community Church in St. Charles, Ill.

image-pv_web.jpg


ST. CHARLES, IL – Loyalty in the NFL really has two strains: Loyalty between a franchise and a player, and loyalty between those in the locker room.

Sometimes, despite their best wishes, time has a way of slowly detaching franchises from players that have given them wins, records and fans for their tenures.

NFL veteran running back Matt Forte learned how harsh that reality can be as he prepares for his ninth NFL season – the first donning a different uniform.

“There’s no loyalty anyway because they don’t care about the player specifically," Forte shared with executive pastor Eric Rojas Saturday night at Christ Community Church in St. Charles, Illinois, as a guest interviewee as part of the church's "WOW Weekend". "They care about the team. No matter how strong the ties are between the player and the team.

"You’re always just a jersey number,”

Forte left Chicago as the franchise's second-leading rusher behind Walter Payton and is the fifth player in NFL history with at least eight seasons of 800 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards.

The 1,200 people in attendance learned about Forte's faith, early football career as well as his relationship with reunited teammate, Brandon Marshall.

“I constantly hold him accountable and same thing with me,” Forte said of Marshall. “If I see him say something or do something, I’m like, 'That’s out of character of you, Brandon.' We talk about it in private, and things get handled that way like men.”

Forte told the story of calling the embattled wide receiver on the phone one day, and telling him, “Brandon, you didn’t really hold yourself accountable at the same time."

"He didn’t really like that," Forte recalled.

"When I talked to him, I was just saying in this book I read, when you hold bitterness in your heart, you're the only one that gets hurt because the other person – they've forgotten about it," Forte said. "But, you're still holding on to that, and so it keeps you from growing. It keeps you from going forward, and you're staying in the same place stuck in the mud because you're bitter."

Forte also reflected on his former quarterback, Jay Cutler.

"I feel bad for him because the cameras are constantly on him," Forte said. "They show his body language, and I mean, if you look on the sideline and something goes bad, everybody's body langauge is that way. He's the quarterback. He's the one in the spotlight.

"In the media, that's the thing to pick on. That's the thing that sells papers, so that's what they're gonna pick on. That's what they're gonna write about no matter what he says.

"I've seen him grow from when he came in, it was my second year, all the way till now. He has kids, family, married – all that stuff, so he's grown a lot. And, his personality has changed a lot over the years."

The NFL’s ‘best all-around back’ in the past eight years, as Marshall put it, is likely headed for a healthy dose of reps – especially considering the Jets' current quarterback conundrum with free agent Ryan Fitzpatrick currently in-flux and a compromise seemingly nowhere in sight.

Whether Marshall and Forte can both replicate their 2013 Pro Bowl success will be just one key in their quest to dethrone the Patriots atop the AFC East.

“Obviously, I wanted to stay in [Chicago], but the Bears had other decisions," Forte said. "God is still good through all of this. I always look back and say I could be at home not doing anything at the same time. The Jets are great."
 

Desperado34

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Better hope Langford is good, Pace.
 

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He's gotta deal w shit qb now, forte knows a good qb

Until Fitzmagic re-signs with NYJ, then Forte will find out how it is like to play with a competent QB
 

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Forte has always been a consummate professional and classy as fuck.
 

Mitchapalooza

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Ooh, how do you reconcile this mick? Your favorite bear is defending your least favorite bear. Such a conundrum

He's not really defending Cutler's play, just the bad wrap he gets in the media and his personality.
 

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He's not really defending Cutler's play, just the bad wrap he gets in the media and his personality.

Well considering that folks here complain about his body language and focus on his personality I'm not surprised Forte has to defend him
 

Mitchapalooza

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Well considering that folks here complain about his body language and focus on his personality I'm not surprised Forte has to defend him

As I've said multiple times in the past, I never understood the hate of his demeanor. I think he cares and all, but just isn't a super energetic guy like Luck, Brady or Russell Wilson, etc so it rubs people the wrong way. But almost all the arguments about Cutler on this board are for his play and not his conduct on the sideline/off the field.
 
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gpphat

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If you think Fitzpatrick is competent I have oceanfront property to sale you in Vegas

I guess that needs clarification....in relation to Cutler, Fitzpatrick is competent
 

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Well considering that folks here complain about his body language and focus on his personality I'm not surprised Forte has to defend him

Thats not even true. Come on. Don't be the thing you hate.
 

jonimus

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Class.

Throughout Forte's entire Bear career, was there ever a time you were pissed at him?

The character and quality of athlete he is fits Pace/Fox to a T, but I understand that his running style and age didn't fit the direction they're going. Even if he had 1 or 2 more quality years with the Bears, I understand them feeling there is more to gain long term finding and developing young guys in this system.

But look at almost every guy they have brought in and/or drafted. Watching the 'meet the Bears' videos on the rookies.. every one of these guys seem like really genuinely good kids with high character and high drive with solid faith/family/friend backgrounds. Ultimately they have to be good football players too... but I like the culture they're developing.
 

bearmick

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Ooh, how do you reconcile this mick? Your favorite bear is defending your least favorite bear. Such a conundrum

What's to reconcile? I don't really have favorite or least favorite players in a way that I would care about their personal thoughts on each other. My opinions of Forte and Cutler are based solely on what they do on the field. The only reason I "like" Forte more than Cutler is because he's been a better player for the Bears, and he isn't a Bear anymore so even that's now moot.


As I've sad multiple times in the past, I never understood the hate of his demeanor. I think he cares and all, but just isn't a super energetic guy like Luck, Brady or Russell Wilson, etc so it rubs people the wrong way. But almost all the arguments about Cutler on this board are for his play and not his conduct on the sideline/off the field.

This.
 

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