After career year, Jay Cutler credits couples therapy for helping him
Jay Cutler opened up about his maturation process since entering the league in 2006. What he had to say might surprise you.
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Less than a year ago, the idea of the Bears shipping Jay Cutler to a quarterback-needy team wasn't a crazy one. Cutler was coming off an 18-interception season. At one point, he was benched for Jimmy Clausen. Why wouldn't the Bears part ways with Cutler if they could get something of value in return?
But the Bears, with a new regime in place, never cut ties with Cutler. And it paid off. Cutler enjoyed arguably the best season of his career in 2015, posting a 2.3 interception rate and a career-high 92.3 passer rating -- all without his top playmakers for the majority of the season. General manager Ryan Pace is even talking about building the Bears' offense around Cutler this coming offseason.
Now that the season is over for Cutler, he's had time to sit down with members of the local media. In one of those interviews, with the Chicago Tribune's David Haugh, Cutler opened up about a number of different topics, revealing he would've handled the 2009 trade fiasco with the Broncos and Josh McDaniels differently if it happened to him today. Cutler also spent some time talking about the Xs and Os of the Bears' new-look offense.
The entire interview is well worth a read, but if there's one way to highlight how much Cutler has changed over the years, it was his willingness to discuss how couples therapy has played a role in his success.
From the Chicago Tribune (questions are bolded):
Did you deal with a mental coach in the offseason or somebody who helped sharpen your focus or awareness?
We have somebody on staff here. Kristin and I have done couples therapy also. I've never met with a quarterback guy or any (mental coach) in that regard. But just couples therapy and meeting with Gloria (Balague), who's our in-house sports psychologist, you start getting insight on some things. You start seeing things differently. That's definitely helped me deal with stuff.
Jay Cutler talking about couples therapy is definitely not the same guy who came to Chicago in 2009. Does it surprise even you that you've changed to that point?
I'm more thankful I've gotten to that point. I'm not surprised. You look at your 2006 self when (I) came into the league and it's a drastic change. But if you're not trying to get better in certain aspects of your life, you're just going to stay the same. I think we can all improve. Things at home, things in your life away from work, if they're not in order, it's definitely going to affect your professional business.
We talk about it all the time with guys in the locker room, we say, "Hey, if you're going to go out every night and do these things, there's going to be an effect. You're going to have a problem working." It all correlates. But when you're younger, you don't really realize that. You think you can burn it at both ends. I did it myself when I was younger. You can get away with it for a little bit but there comes a point where enough's enough and I need to make some decisions.
From afar, perception can often blend with reality and the perception of Cutler over the years was often negative. Perception said Cutler didn't care -- that he wasn't sincere.
This interview, along with his stellar season, should help change that narrative.
