RUSH: This is Jeff in Keystone, Colorado, as we go back to the phones. It’s great to have you here, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Hey, great to be with you, Rush. Mega dittos. This makes my day getting to talk to you.
RUSH: Well, I appreciate that, sir. Thank you.
CALLER: Well, I wanted to talk to you Wednesday to prevent the tragedy that happened in Denver this week, but it wasn’t timely, but now it is, and unfortunately there’s nothing we can do about it. The Broncos traded away Jay Cutler.
CALLER: Yeah. It’s a travesty, I’ll tell you. I thought maybe if I got through Wednesday you could talk Obama into removing Pat Bowlen since they’re taking over for CEOs, to prevent this from happening.
RUSH: Well, the problem —
CALLER: But now that he went to Chicago…
RUSH: Well, the problem is Bowlen hasn’t asked for a bailout.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: If the NFL ever asks for a bailout then Obama can get rid of the owners and the CEOs and the coaches, but until that day happens, there’s not much he can do. You know, I have a different take. What are you so upset over losing Cutler for?
CALLER: Well, first of all Geithner said he’s going to take over companies even if they don’t ask for a bailout.
RUSH: Yeah. Okay, I stand corrected. I stand corrected.
CALLER: (chuckling)
RUSH: So you want him to take over the Denver Broncos because you figure Geithner and Obama will do a better job than Bowlen and Josh McDaniels?
CALLER: Yeah, but now I think the fix is in because he’s going to Chicago where Obama is from, so maybe Obama was involved.
RUSH: (laughing) Will you help me understand something? Why are you so upset about losing Jay Cutler?
CALLER: Well, you know, he only threw for 25 touchdowns, 4500 yards, he’s got a rocket arm, and he’s instrumental in eight wins with a team that couldn’t stop anybody. I cringed every time the Broncos went on defense because I knew they couldn’t stop him. You know, he’s 13-1 when the Broncos have allowed 21 point or less.
RUSH: What is he in the playoffs?
CALLER: Well, if you don’t have a defense you’re not going to the playoffs.
RUSH: What is he in the playoffs?
CALLER: We haven’t gone. Are you against Jay Cutler, Rush?
RUSH: No, I’m not against anybody that plays football. I love football. As you know! I love football.
CALLER: I know. That’s why I called.
RUSH: I’m the biggest football fan. I think football, sports provides just a wonderful escape from reality. It is fantasyland. Nothing that happens there is… I mean, there’s no football team that can raise your taxes. There’s no quarterback that can draft your kid into the military. No football team can. General Motors never hurt anybody. The Denver Broncos never hurt anybody. Pat Bowlen never hurt anybody. And these people end up being hated more than people who are destroying our lives are disliked! Now, my take on Jay Cutler… Now, I’m an old-fashioned guy, but I don’t know if he’s mature enough to say he’s older than 12 years old. The way he reacted to this whole story that the new coach mighta wanted to talk about getting Matt Cassel in from New England? I have to tell you, I have to admit that what’s reported in the sports media is just as suspect as what’s reported in the news media.
CALLER: I’m glad you said that because you’re suffering from the spin. Jay Cutler was loved in Denver. He was loved by his teammates, and he was never a problem. And all of a sudden some guy comes in, treats him poorly, and lies to him and continues to lie to him, and all of a sudden the spin machine gets going and he’s the worst person ever and he’s a crybaby. He never has been. He’s a fierce competitor. I mean, he is great. He’s a fierce competitor. I think Chicago is going to go great. I hate to see you suffer from the spin of the Denver media, Rush, ’cause he’s not a crybaby. The thing that I like about him is he stood up to his employer and said —
RUSH: I don’t.
CALLER: — I’m good enough —
RUSH: Look it —
CALLER: — that if you want my services, you have to treat me right — and I admire that.
RUSH: At some point, though, you get over it. It’s a business. Even if you’ve been… For crying out loud, I think of all the employees in this country who were disrespected. They’ve played games with their heads (I could give you a couple interesting examples right now) but you get over it. Whatever it was, he didn’t seem to be able to get over it.
CALLER: Well, it’s kind of like —
RUSH: He was going to be the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos! No matter what happened, he was it. But he got in a snit because they might have wanted somebody else. ‘If you don’t want me, fine. I’m outta here.’ Now he’s gone to Chicago. Well, no comment about that. No comment about that.
CALLER: I looked at him kind of like you, Rush. He is successful enough to determine where he wants to go. John Elway wouldn’t play for Frank Kush, and Baltimore traded him to Denver, and Denver was elated. Jay Cutler won’t play for Josh McDaniels. We trade him away, and he’s vilified. He’s good enough to determine his own future, just like you. I mean, you could go anywhere you wanted to go if your radio stations decided they weren’t going to treat you right. I admire people who are that successful and have that much talent.
RUSH: Well, it’s an interesting take, although the analogy is not quite the same. I don’t know that if you could have given Cutler his choice, it would have been Chicago.
CALLER: He’s elated! That was his hometown team (garbled) Obama.
RUSH: Oh, that’s spin, too! That’s, ‘Oh, the prodigal son comes home! Ohhhhh, yeah! The prodigal son is back! His home is Indiana, but his faaaaavorite team was the B’ars. So now he gets to go home and play for Lovie. Yip yip yip yip yahoo!’ It’s all spin. Pshew! Who knows? Who knows?
CALLER: Can you name who the Three Amigos were?
RUSH: Who?
CALLER: Who the Three Amigos were who John Elway’s receivers were? They called them the Three Amigos?
RUSH: Yeah, I’m having a mental block here. Why? What do you want to know?
CALLER: Well, what I’m saying is the quarterback makes the receivers. John Elway put that team on his back. They had a good defense. Jay Cutler’s going to do the same thing with the receivers in Chicago, and I think the Bears have just… I mean, I think they got a steal.
RUSH: Well, we’ll see. It will be an interesting season. There’s no question about it. And the Broncos do have a quarterback challenge now. They’ve given themselves that. But I don’t want to go too far out on a limb here. I don’t know Josh McDaniels, but I do know Mr. Bowlen. And I know that he is not irrational. I know that he’s a fine businessman, and I know that if he felt that they were at an impasse, that this wasn’t gonna work… I don’t doubt what he says about that. But, anyway, this is what makes… None of it matters in the end, although it does. So we’ll see what happens to Jay Cutler in Chicago. ‘The quarterback makes the receiver,’ is the theory on the table. You might want to talk to Cliff Branch of the Oakland Raiders about that and some others. But I don’t deny quarterback’s important. I don’t deny it.