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Here is the latest installment of Football Friday for On Her Game. I had originally intended to take the week off with the Bears who are on a bye. Then Danny posted an article to my Facebook wall about the re-signing of Jordan Palmer. This started the merry-go-round lyric going through my mind, and I was fairly certain that it was not going to stop until I wrote about it.
When Jay Cutler went down in the game against the Washington Redskins after saying “ouch!” on his behalf; I said, “Crap! The Bears are back on the quarterback merry-go-round.” Then I started singing a song (Merry Go ‘Round by Kasey Musgrave) of which somehow I know but just one line… “broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go, where it stops nobody knows.”
Since becoming a Bears fan at the tender age of nine around 1991, I have seen over 25 different quarterbacks start at least one game for my beloved team. I cannot name all of them, and there are more than a few that I would rather forget ever wore a Bears uniform. It was at this time that I came to a difficult yet obvious realization: the Bears as my team have never given me a quarterback to root for beyond his tenure in Chicago. Thus, it is difficult for me to imagine following a QB to another team.
Two weeks ago, after asking my husband to pick a side in the Broncos vs. Colts game, he chose "offense." To which I called him the worst sports fan ever, but in actuality I must concede that as a Colts fan he has had the “luxury" of seeing good quarterback play for as long as he can remember with Peyton Manning only to be succeeded by Andrew Luck. In other words, there is no such quarterback merry-go-round in Indianapolis; and I will cut my husband a bit of slack, though I still think he should have picked a team rather than a side of the ball.
The Bears may never have a QB like Manning (or Luck), but I wanted to believe that signing Jay Cutler could be an end to the 25 plus player merry-go-round. At some point you just have to say, stop the ride, I want to get off! Regardless of whether you like Cutler or not, and believe me there are times that I do not, he has brought a toughness and excitement rarely seen at the quarterback position in Chicago. It has been said that this injury would take 4-6 weeks to heal, but Coach Marc Trestman and receiver Brandon Marshall predict Cutler could be back sooner than initially anticipated, and with any luck that is true given the tough schedule facing the Bears over that time as another division game against the Lions comes after Green Bay, followed by the Ravens and a tougher than one would think St. Louis Rams team.
Cutler has been seen at Bears practice saying that he feels good, but also hopefully offering support and encouragement to Josh McCown, who will be the Bears starter on Monday. The strong play that McCown showed against Washington after Cutler went down needs to continue against the Packers for the Bears to have a fighting chance. The back-up to McCown will be Jordan Palmer, who was resigned after failing to earn a spot on the final regular season roster. The upside to Palmer is the familiarity with the offensive system in place, but it is hard for this Bears fan not to sing, “broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go, where it stops nobody knows.”
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