If you were to look at Jay Cutler, you would see the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears he grew up a fan of in Santa Claus, Indiana. You would see a professional athlete whose team finished the season at 10-6. You would see a 2008 Pro-Bowl selection. You would see a new 
father. And, you would see a man with diabetes.
Coming out of Vanderbilt, Cutler was the 11th pick overall by the Denver Broncos in the 2006 Draft. He made his first NFL start in Week 13, making one of the longest touchdown passes in a player’s debut game in NFL history, a 71-yard pass to rookie Brandon Marshall. He became just the second rookie in league history to throw at least two touchdown passes in each of his first four starts, the other player being Dan Marino in 1983, the year Cutler was born.
After experiencing extreme fatigue, even before games, weakness in his arm and a 35 pound weight loss, Cutler and the Broncos’ medical staff were understandably concerned. After ruling out the stress of being a starting quarterback, the team did a battery of medical tests. Upon discovering a blood sugar of 550, the trainer informed Cutler he should see a doctor.
On May 1, 2008, Cutler announced that he had been diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes and would require an insulin pump, designed to be removed during games. After some trial and error, Cutler decided injections were a better way to go for him. “I was relieved when we figured out what it was and that it was treatable,” he said, “Now I can play at 100 percent of my ability.” Cutler had some experience with the disease. His quarterback coach at Vanderbilt, Jimmy Kiser, was also a Type-1 diabetic.
Type-1 Diabetes usually strikes people when they are children. Cutler is not the first, nor the only current, professional athlete to have Type-1 Diabetes. NHL players B.J. Crombeen and Cory Conacher, stock car driver Dexter Bean, and MLB player Sam Fuld are just a few of the current prominent athletes with the same diagnosis. The effects and complications of having Type-1 Diabetes can include depression, eating disorders, cardiovascular disease, diabetic neuropathy (affects all peripheral nerves and can cause a tingling sensation in extremeties), and diabetic retinopathy (damage to the retina, which can lead to blindness). Type-1 differs from Type-2 (the overwhelmingly more common type) in that Type-2 is an affliction usually brought on by poor diet and lifestyle choices.
Before the 2009 Draft, Cutler asked to be traded. The team obliged and traded him, along with a fifth-round pick in the 2009 Draft to the Chicago Bears for quarterback Kyle Orton, the Bears’ first and third round selections in 2009 and the Bears’ first round pick in 2010. The contract runs through the upcoming 2013 season.
Cutler had to quickly learn to be unashamed and open about his constant blood sugar testing. It can be very easy for athletes to overshoot their goal insulin level. If this happens, there will be a lack of oxygen flowing to the brain. Without an influx of a simple-carbohydrate sugar, this can lead to disorientation, vision loss, or a seizure that can result in long-term brain damage, coma, or even death. “I check my blood sugar about four or five times before a game. I try to stay around 150-160 before kickoff,” he said. “When you get the adrenaline rushing, things can change pretty quickly, so when we come off the field after an offensive series in the first half, I’ll test again to make sure I’m not getting low.”
Diabetes hasn’t slowed Cutler’s heart or production on the field. Cutler made his NFL post-season debut in the 2010 playoffs. Cutler finished the Divisional game against the Seahawks going 15 of 28 for 274 yards, with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also rushed for 43 yards and two scores. His 43 rushing yards were the most by a Bears quarterback in the postseason since Sid Luckman in 1943. He also joined Otto Graham as one of two players ever to run and throw for multiple touchdowns in a playoff game.
In his personal life, Cutler has made a family with his fiancée, reality television star Kristin Cavallari. The couple welcomed their first child, Camden Jack Cutler, on August 8, 2012, the day before the Bears’ pre-season opener. Cutler also is an active philanthropist, starting the Jay Cutler Foundation in 2007 and also working with various organizations, such as Vanderbilt’s Best Buddies, Dedicated to Diabetes, Eli Lilly and Company, and speaking out for diabetes awareness.
