Jay Cutler Saga Points Out Lack of Loyalty in NFL

This NFL off-season has been as drama filed as most daytime soap operas. While we've been spared the Brett Favre saga this year, the McDaniels, Cutler feud has more then compensated for it. Listening to the back and forth, I was reminded of the game I played as a young kid, the game where you pick a petal off a flower, he loves you , he loves you not. The petals are all gone and, he definitely loves you not.

There was more speculation of where Cutler would land then there was about who shot J.R. Finally, we now know, Jay Cutler and a third round pick are going to the Chicago Bears, and Kyle Orton and two first round picks are going to Denver. There go two more jersey's fans can't wear anymore.

I know one thing, I will no longer purchase player jersey's, unless they're the old school jersey's of retired players. I think team stores should allow you to return jerseys when the player is traded or cut. Or, maybe they can offer a service where you can rent a jersey. You buy your favorite players jersey one year and it's obsolete the next season. Owens fans would be on their fourth jersey after his recent signing with Buffalo. I have two Owens jersey's from his time with San Francisco and the Eagles, I gave up after that.

I miss the days when I could count on Joe Montana and then Steve Young to lead my 49ers, season after season. Denver Broncos fans were spoiled, having John Elway in Mile High for years. Now, the Chicago Bears have Jay Cutler, who replaces Kyle Orton, who replaced Rex Grossman and there was Brian Griese and on and on.

It's hard to build a team that runs like a fine oiled machine, when you are constantly changing the parts. It's also difficult for quarterbacks and players who change teams to establish continuity. When you think about the modern day quarterbacks who will leave the game with a great legacy, they are for the most part, quarterbacks who've played for one team. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and the younger emerging QB's, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers, all these players have enjoyed the luxury of playing their entire careers to date, with one team and all have had success.

In a time when over half the marriages in the world end in divorce, I guess we can't expect a relationship between a player and his team to be any better.

Sources:

http://espn.go.com/