LINICOME: Diabetes has Cutler even more in a spot

By Bernie Lincicome, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 06:05 p.m., May 4, 2008
Updated 08:13 p.m., May 4, 2008

This does change things about Jay Cutler. It has to.

Courage means something else now. Victory and defeat are amended, the one not so great and the other not so awful.

As much as Cutler would like for us to ignore his condition, it cannot be done. Don't stare at the elephant.

What identity Cutler had in football was that he was young, with a strong arm, and the Broncos had turned their future over to him.

This is no small chore and would, in the best of circumstances, still be uncertain.

Cutler is now identified by his disease, and will be until success reorders things. It is difficult enough to play quarterback in the NFL without the added weight Cutler will be forced to carry, not just the concern of diabetes and managing it, but the peripherals that come with the label.

Oh, it can be done, and Cutler appears to have the temperament and the talent to do it. Examples are legion of others who have.

Yet, even this adds to Cutler's burden, the notion that it should not bother him, when there is no way it cannot.

Things will change as long as Cutler plays football well, grows into his role, becomes the quarterback he is projected to be.

If he does not, or when he has predictable struggles, the first thought will always be of his diabetes, an added and dominant concern beyond the usual bumps, bruises and pains of his sport.

Being an athlete with a disease or disability, and yet overcoming it, has always been the real stuff of heroes, more so than perfectly healthy, physically superior feats on the field.

The spotlight is never off, success and failure are never without that ever-present companion, adversity.

One could never watch, for example, Rolf Benirschke kicking field goals or kicking off without being aware of his ostomy surgery. It was chilling to realize the real damage any kind of hit could do.

Winning the Tour de France seven times never removed the association of Lance Armstrong with cancer. In fact, it made him the most famous symbol of overcoming the disease, his story more incredible with each retelling.

Jim Abbott was a fine major league pitcher, threw a no-hitter, yet his inspiration is that he was born with only one hand. (Which brings to mind the most absurd question ever asked by one of my profession. Jim, are you a natural lefty?)

Magic Johnson's continued vitality and well-being now 17 years after being diagnosed HIV-positive is as inspiring as any of his NBA titles.

Alonzo Mourning's career after a kidney transplant was likewise inspirational.

No matter the long list of athletes who have played their sport with health disorders, each of them had to handle the challenge himself, or herself, thinking of Billie Jean King (diabetes) and Amy Van Dyken (asthma) and Florence Griffith Joyner (epilepsy).

The model of Lou Gehrig rings over the years as how to cope with the worst adversity, with dignity and without bitterness, never a more heroic moment in sports.

If some of these examples seem more dire than the situation Cutler is in, yet it is only a matter of degree. Cutler is in different and special company now.

This is a serious challenge for Cutler, and not to be neglected or treated casually.

Just the routine of maintaining regular health, not injury or ache, but regular everyday well-being, becomes an added weight and ever-present concern.

While the examples of others can motivate and encourage, they can also exaggerate the ease with which it can be done. It will not be easy.

Results will still matter. Completions. Touchdowns. Winning, the stuff that quarterbacks are judged by, and it would seem that Cutler now has a smaller margin for failure.

Knowing now that Cutler played acceptably the last half of the last season while suffering the effects of diabetes, and considering that his quarterback numbers are pretty good (88.2 rating, 63 percent completion rate, 29 touchdowns in 21 games), he has established his own level of performance.

If he were to do not as well now, the first thought will not be that he is simply growing into his role and that all young quarterbacks struggle. It will be impossible not to consider his health concerns.

It is almost as if Cutler has to be more successful just to prove that he can handle this additional burden.

And it will always be there.