Boys Don't Cry.....Or Leave a Playoff Game with an Injury Apparently

It's not just a Cure song. 

Much has been written and discussed over the past few days about Jay Cutler who was lambasted on Twitter and Facebook by both players and fans for leaving Sunday’s playoff game between the Bears and the Packers early due to injury. The critics say he let down his team; he lacked guts and heart and he was basically a wuss and should be treated as a pariah in the locker room. When Cutler heard that his toughness had been called into question, he reacted with apparent stunned tears adding more fuel to the proverbial fire.

Cutler’s injury appears to have been a Grade II MCL tear, which typically requires six weeks to heal. His coach and doctors told him to stay out of the game and while he tried to argue with them, his attempt failed. Some of the criticism has quieted as more of this information has come out though much of it hasn’t. I’m guessing even if he had a bone sticking half way out of his skin, according to these critics, Cutler should have continued to play because that’s what tough guys do – play ”no matter what” especially when a trip to the Super Bowl is at stake. And instead of tears, he should have responded with what? The finger?

The mentality to play no matter what the injury is one of the reasons why Andre Waters, an ex-NFL player who killed himself at the age of 44 in 2006, was found to have the brain of an 83-year old Alzheimer’s patient.  Years of “playing hurt” and multiple concussions took its toll on both his mental and physical health.  

The NFL is not for the faint of heart, mind or body. NFL players put themselves in the position of risking serious injury, long-term harmful side effects and even immediate death every time they step on to the football field. To call Cutler, who was sacked 52 times this season – more than any other player - a quitter or a coward is pure ignorance.  

Despite it's violent nature, I love the NFL. There's no sport more exciting or fascinating to watch. In my public speaking class during college, I gave a persuasive speech on why more women should watch football. I received an A+. For years, I have yelled at the TV screen during every close game, rooted for players I love and screamed at the refs for making bad calls. In this age of Twitter and Facebook, the intense emotions that football generates can be shared immediately. It doesn't matter if the wrath/passion of those heated feelings generally tend to dissipate with time. Once it's out there in the blogotwitosphere, it's out there. 

To tweet is often to share a snap judgment about something the collective public is experiencing. We all talk a big game about wanting to end bullying and stop gender stereotyping but incidents like what happened with Jay Cutler makes me think we’re heading in the other direction and that scares me. Reputations can be made or broken with the click of an enter key. Maybe everyone should stop and think for a few minutes before they hit send.