El Guapo
05-01-2006, 11:39 AM
More cutler stuff; from SI:
I said to Shanahan on Sunday night, "If Cutler's right when he says he hasn't talked to you guys for two months, how in the world did you end up taking him with the 11th pick in the draft?'' Shanahan laughed.
"The first time I talked to him was yesterday, after the pick, and we met here today," Shanahan said from Denver. "I studied him and watched him and looked at the draft board and didn't say very much to anyone. I said, 'I'm just going to shut up and hope it works out.' I've been in this thing long enough. You don't give anyone your hand. Don't give anyone an idea, or it's out very quickly. Keep it to yourself.
"I did call [Tennessee Titans coach] Jeff Fisher, who I'm very close to, and I know Jeff to a T, and I just said to him, 'Give me Cutler's good points and bad points.' And he said, 'Mike, there are no bad points.' Jeff knows football players. And I thought, if I could get up there around 11, I'm going to try to get him. When I really got to thinking about it, I asked myself, 'How often am I ever going to have the chance to do something like this again, to get a guy like this?' Maybe never."
But, I said to Shanahan, "You have never spoken to the man. How can you pick a guy who is a total stranger?"
"Well, you watch his interviews on tape, and you feel you know the guy," Shanahan said. "You pick up the phone and talk to him or his agent, and all of a sudden it's going to get out, and I just couldn't risk that."
I also wondered, as does all of Colorado, about the psyche of Jake Plummer after the move.
"Haven't talked to him yet," said Shanahan. "The draft just ended. We'll talk. But if you're a guy who's afraid of competition, you're not made of the right stuff. A guy's got to compete and win the job."
I said to Shanahan on Sunday night, "If Cutler's right when he says he hasn't talked to you guys for two months, how in the world did you end up taking him with the 11th pick in the draft?'' Shanahan laughed.
"The first time I talked to him was yesterday, after the pick, and we met here today," Shanahan said from Denver. "I studied him and watched him and looked at the draft board and didn't say very much to anyone. I said, 'I'm just going to shut up and hope it works out.' I've been in this thing long enough. You don't give anyone your hand. Don't give anyone an idea, or it's out very quickly. Keep it to yourself.
"I did call [Tennessee Titans coach] Jeff Fisher, who I'm very close to, and I know Jeff to a T, and I just said to him, 'Give me Cutler's good points and bad points.' And he said, 'Mike, there are no bad points.' Jeff knows football players. And I thought, if I could get up there around 11, I'm going to try to get him. When I really got to thinking about it, I asked myself, 'How often am I ever going to have the chance to do something like this again, to get a guy like this?' Maybe never."
But, I said to Shanahan, "You have never spoken to the man. How can you pick a guy who is a total stranger?"
"Well, you watch his interviews on tape, and you feel you know the guy," Shanahan said. "You pick up the phone and talk to him or his agent, and all of a sudden it's going to get out, and I just couldn't risk that."
I also wondered, as does all of Colorado, about the psyche of Jake Plummer after the move.
"Haven't talked to him yet," said Shanahan. "The draft just ended. We'll talk. But if you're a guy who's afraid of competition, you're not made of the right stuff. A guy's got to compete and win the job."