jason

If you keep moving the goal posts your point gets lost. Several of the examples above fit the current criteria. Unless of course you think the photographers just randomly hang out at the movies waiting for Tony Romo or another celebrity to show up. I've been to the movies in about half the states in the U.S., several times in very large theaters, and I've yet to see photographers trolling for the hopeful celebrity appearance. Or maybe you think these photographers are rampant enough to patrol every public beach in Florida, hoping to catch a glimpse of a pasty Eli Manning? I'm close enough that I've vacationed down in Florida a few times, been to multiple beaches, no photographers from TMZ to be seen. Oddly enough, I've actually seen Wicked in TWO, count'em, TWO major cities (once in Chicago!), and I've yet to see a photographer of celebrities hanging out near the front door. Or is it possible you think there is a photographer on every NY street corner, just crossing their fingers in hopes of running into Deion and his kids. (Pssst - I've been to NY; that would be pretty difficult.) The longer you keep changing your point and ignoring the obvious examples I'm providing, the less valid your point becomes. And the more valid my point - that Cutler knew what he signed up for when he became a superstar athlete, and shouldn't be a sour puss about it (surprisingly the links I've provided don't show the other athletes acting the same way) - becomes.

That's kind of my point. If an UDFA Rookie comes in and wins a spot, that's great. It likely means he busted his ass and has something to prove. HOWEVER, it also means the front office did a poor job filling the job recently won, because any position potentially won outright by an UDFA Rookie is not exactly one that has a quality incumbent player. And that is the key to all of this. If an UDFA Rookie can come in and win a job, it means the player previously starting in that position should not have been starting in that position.

Are you effing kidding me? The website linked is hardly nationally published. I suppose because it has a URL it's international, actually, but that's not really what you're going for. But if you want to search TMZ, a 30 second search on each of the following: Tony Romo at the movies Eli Manning on the beach Tim Tebow going to Wicked Steve Johnson out and about one night Warren Sapp doesn't even play any more and this is clearly not a publicity photo Same goes for Keyshawn Johnson Deion Sanders out and about Ray Edwards hanging out in Vegas Walter Payton has even been mentioned on TMZ! Finding the above took very little time or effort. There are multiple entries on other players, but I don't care to do more research than the above. It proves my point. Just go to TMZ and look for someone like TO, Moss, or Favre. I'm sure there will be plenty of posts. The point, as it has always been, is that photographers are following around athletes, even those not married to celebrities. And "national publications" like TMZ do it even more often because they've cornered a large slice of the paparazzi niche market. BTW - Cutler and Brady aren't the only NFL players with his own page.

As rookies, respectively: Peters: 1 GS, 5 G O'Hara: 4/8 Waters: 0/6 Penn: 0/0 Dielman: 0/6 Again, an UDFA Rookie should not be starting in the NFL, and if he does it's going to be quite an abberration.

UDFA ROOKIE The former isn't bad. The latter isn't bad. The combination is bad.

Regardless of marijuana use, if an UDFA ends up starting for the Bears as a rookie on the OL, it only shows how bad the OL was, and how much it should have been addressed in the offseason via FA and the draft.

He probably likes it for the same reasons I like it: maximizing player ability and potential. It's not about moving Garza because he was a horrible Center. Garza is a true guard, and signed with the Bears to play guard. Spencer is a true center, and signed with the Bears to play center. Putting them in their natural positions only makes the line stronger. This is particularly true if the Biggs article is accurate and Williams is moving to LT. That means a hole exists at G, and that fits Garza like a glove. Williams - Garza - Spencer - Louis - Carimi is better than Webb - Williams - Garza - Louis - Carimi And unless you can think of a better G-C combo than Garza-Spencer on the Bears (I can't), that's the best option.

What part about "shopping at Walmart" did you not understand? It's not like the photographers were inside Cutler's home. I'm not going to dig up any more than that, because I don't want to do your research. But the abscence of it on a Bears board does not mean it does not exist. I'm quite sure the same type of photos have surfaced of fan-sites many times over for several other QBs. But since they're off our radar, we don't think about it. The same thing is true on other boards regarding Cutler; there is no way the Tennessee Titans' fan board has a thread about Cutler's interactions with the paparazzi.

Now that I think about it, this is pretty easy. Mark Sanchez has received a ton of notoriety for a variety of reasons. He's a nightlife player like Brady, and has recently been linked to Kate Upton. There are plenty of pictures out there of him just going to the theater and various sporting events. Tony Romo dated several A-listers and eventually got married to a model. He also shops at Walmart. Tim Tebow for obvious reasons. And one more. Peyton Manning has been seen on SNL and did a voice on the Simpsons, not to mention a ton of commericals. Eli Manning could potentially be put into that circle as well. Brett Favre received tons of attention while playing, and even more during his career. So much so that he was a known figure to even non-football fans. Hell, we even know his brother is a criminal. I've seen photos of him in a car, and we all saw his wedding photo.

There is a difference between athletes and movie stars. Movie stars get more photographers. But that doesn't mean high-profile athletes get none. This is especially true when the profile goes from QB on down. QBs are the faces of the league. The gap between Brad Pitt and Jay Cutler is huge when talking about the photgraphers, but the gap between him and his new girlfriend isn't nearly as huge. But I'd say it's just as huge as the gap between pre-celebrity GF Cutler and a relatively unknown (to the general public) player. How many do you think follow around Roberto Garza? There is a difference between Brady and other QBs. But that mostly has to do with the fact that if he weren't playing football he would easily fit into with celebrities on looks alone. Again, movie stars - and players who look like movie stars - get more photographers. Other than Brady, I'm sure Peyton Manning gets a ton of followers. Vick as well. Maybe a few others. I'll do some research into this when I get a chance, but I know I've seen photos of other QBs doing random, every-day things. Trying to get on a high horse about any of this is what's truly ridiculous. We watch; we listen. No matter the story, fans of [insert person/team/etc.] will flock to stories and photographs of that item.

I hope so, too. But I obviously have my legitimate doubts. And the first time Cutler gets pounded, chased, or starts to revert to poor mechanics because the OL can't hold up their end of the bargain, you can guaran-damn-tee there will be a thread about it.

Please. You may have a distaste for what they do, but get off the high-horse a little and come visit reality. You know you'd read virtually any story about Jay Cutler. Just like the rest of us. And there's nothing wrong with it. These people are celebrities. You may read it and say, "Ahhhh, so what." But you will still read it, and readers drive media.

Your statement should be dead on accurate. Somehow I think it won't be, because they'll find another fall guy. It's still virtually unfathomable that they saw this OL play the last couple years and thought, "Yeah, we're good. Let's focus attention elsewhere." That's simple incompetence. There isn't one front office or coaching staff in the league that would agree with the lofty appraisals of the Bears' OL.

Brown's doing well - Lovie talking up a player - Brown actually ending up as a starter -

I love the fluidity of this board sometimes. From Shea signed - ho hum, we knew it would happen - to Forte's contract. Forte is being greedy. Period.

I'll agree it's somewhere in the middle. But an NFL QB garners attention on his own. Adding celebrity girlfriend just makes it worse.

Yes, they were that bad. Please quit with the revisionist history. They had a decent stretch where they played relatively consistent as a unit, but for the most part they were bad. As for the first part, we shall see. People have been saying for years it was a matter of weapons. I've said all along that it doesn't matter how many weapons you have if Cutler is running for his life and has turf stains on his back. This year we will find out if it's because his guys weren't getting open. With Marshall, Jeffery, Bennett, Hester, Davis, Rodriguez, and Forte, there is no way someone can blame the weapons if Cutler continues to get pounded. My true hope is for Williams to move outside, put Webb on the bench, and have someone else fill the LG spot. Ideally it'd be Garza, with Spencer at C, but I just don't see that happening.

See, now this is where I disagree. And since the "pressures" statistic is highly unreliable unless paired with extensive gamefilm study and specific play breakdown, it's difficult to compute. But since I saw all the Bears games last year - most of them more than once - and several of the Packer games last year, I can say without a doubt that Rodgers had a much lower percentage of plays in which he was pressured than Cutler did. Furthermore, Cutler had to predict this so often that he began to move his pocket, roll out, scramble, etc. much more than Rodgers did. It's about consistency, which is where the Bears' OL problems primarily exist. Very rarely did they all get together on the same sheet of music. When Webb didn't suck, Garza did. When Garza didn't, Louis did. When Louis didn't, Williams did. Repeat over and over. Where the Packers differ is they seemed to gel as a unit more often, and while they may have had a similar number of sacks, the percentage of snaps in which Rodgers truly got pressured is, in my opinion, nowhere near as bad as the heat Cutler felt. Combining all the OL stats (i.e. rushing, zero yard plays, pressures, hits, pressures) more accurately tells the story, but it's still not the whole story.

Dude, that is NOT hindsight. That is as foretold and obvious as a sunrise. And it predates the link to celebrity girlfriends. All the girlfriend does is amplify the situation. Become star NFL player = get publicity, get millions of fans, lose privacy in public Become star NFL player who shacks up with a celebrity = See above, and muliply by infinity If he doesn't move, then he has nobody to blame about his lack of privacy other than himself.

I agree completely.

None. Who said he did? I'm not downing Cutler for flipping the bird. I couldn't care less. I'm just pointing out the facts that the photographers in this case also didn't break laws, and if Cutler is that sensitive maybe he should have thought about his desire for privacy before he went ahead with being a professional athlete who shacked up with a celebrity. There are plenty of celebrities who stay off the radar. If Cutler wanted that, he could afford to make it a reality.

Thank you for a common sense reply to the age-old "but the Packers" argument. Cutler was on a treadmill all year, even when the sacks weren't coming so frequently.

No they don't. That's unequivocally false. Check their stats again (make sure you scroll past thier primary accomplishments as returners).

Much better described, and now we're talking about specifics. Your scenarios get the following from me: OK, OK, Bad, OK, Bad/Confusing. The Princess Di thing is a whole ball of yarn that needs to be unraveled. Other factors besides the paparazzi were definitely contributing (e.g. driver was drinking, driver was speeding, lack of seat belt use). Unless the photographers are breaking laws, I don't see much problem with their actions. So, back to Cutler...were they illegally in his neighborhood? That's almost certainly a no. One of the prices of fame is a diminished amount of privacy. If Cutler doesn't like it, he should move into a gated community where the average Joe can't just waltz in with his camera. That's his choice. And his money allows that choice. And his money is derived from his celebrity. Full circle.

Defining "wrong" is subjective. I'm sure there families don't think it's "wrong" when they put food on the table. Again, when they sign they should know. If they don't, they're too ignorant to have that much money and responsibility. That's B,C, and D. As for E, they are responsible...for taking photographs.