"Former Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo has been a weekly sit-down with Dan Pompei of The Athletic during the season. The question-and-answers have been very interesting as we get the perspective from a former executive on the current events of not only the Bears, but also some of the other hot topic around the NFL.
During this week's chat, Angelo was asked about two former Bears quarterbacks who are having success this year in Jay Culter and Josh McCown.
«Cutler worked for us when I was there,» Angelo said. «We won with him. We were 24-17 [when Cutler started], if my math is right. When I was there, we didn't put all our eggs in his basket. Call me a doubting Thomas, but before we did that, we had to see him in Chicago. We weren't going to have our defense and special teams riding shotgun until we saw what he could do for us. I'm not taking any shots at anybody. It's a matter of philosophy. At worse he upgraded the most important position on the field and certainly the hardest position in sport to play. You do what you feel is right and do everything you can to make whatever decision you make work. That's what we did. When I make a major decision, I always ask myself, if it doesn't work, is it going to look stupid? If I say «yes,» then I'm making my decision based off emotion or desperateness. I never felt that after we got in the lottery to get him.»
McCown had always been one of the Angelo's favorite players and he had some interesting things to say about the 2011 Bears had he played instead of Caleb Hanie.
«That team, in 2011, I've said was one of best one we had during my tenure,» he revealed. «We went to the NFC championship game the year before. With Cutler we had a chance to win with our offense. Our defense was still good, as well as our special teams. We could win in any of the three phases. Even with our injuries we could still compete. If we had gone to Josh I'm convinced we could have made the playoffs that year and then who knows what could have happened. But that's all hindsight. I hope once he's done with football he gets into coaching. He'll be great, because he's in the game for the right reasons and with a lot of God-given intangibles.» "
