A fan once asked George McCaskey at a public gathering who his favorite Bear was at the time. “Jay Cutler,’’ the team’s chairman told the crowd. I wasn’t there, so I can’t tell you how many people needed to be transported to area hospitals after that declaration of love. But it couldn’t have gone over well with a fan base that had tired of Cutler’s mercurialness on and off the field.
It might have looked like an indictment of McCaskey’s ability to recognize talent and attitude, but more likely it was something else.
NFL franchises regularly fall in love with players they shouldn’t fall in love with.