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Communication, Cutler-Style (aka: “Nah, nah, I can’t hear you!”)

While the rift between the Broncos and Jay Cutler may be old news by now, I feel the whole saga highlights an age-old lesson in how, when it comes right down to it, proper communication can solve all conflicts.

As the story goes, some harmless, mild chatter erupted that Cutler might be traded, setting in motion a series of misguided events. After catching wind of the possible trade, Cutler becomes disgruntled. Broncos Head Coach McDaniels then makes a definitive statement that Cutler will not be traded. Cutler says he believes McDaniels lied and that he was planning on trading him all along, so Cutler asks to be traded. Broncos owner Pat Bowlen announces the team would accommodate Cutler’s request and attempt to trade him. Cutler then gets traded to the Bears and Denver gets Kyle Orton. Bowlen and McDaniels claim they had made attempts to contact Cutler to work out the conflict, but that he wouldn’t return their messages so, therefore, they moved forward with a trade.

Unreturned voicemails, ignored phone calls, unanswered text messages and theoretical meetings. Yes - this is the extent of the “communication” between Cutler, McDaniels and Bowlen; more like an episode of “Gossip Girl” than what you would expect from a group of highly respected sports professionals.

And seriously, text messages? Correct me if I’m wrong, but perhaps a face-to-face discussion that could subsequently change the course of someone’s career forever might not best be communicated via text. Texting is something we reserve for situations like, “I’m running late” or “Save me a seat at the movie,” or “Wanna meet for Happy Hour?”

This all brings me back to the value of proper communication. Before the ball actually got dropped (pun intended), McDaniels said he thought the conflict with Cutler could be solved with a one-on-one meeting - imagine that. However, no one actually managed to follow through on that idea.

Communication is arguably (and we’re happy to argue it anytime, anyplace…) the most valuable tool we have at our disposal, so why do so many choose to neglect it? Every conflict, whatever it may be, boils down to one simple truth - a lack of communication. The conflict with Cutler wasn’t about the fact that the Broncos wanted to trade him. It was about the lack of communication between them that added fuel to an otherwise tepid fire which could have been extinguished with a little thing called communication.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/20 at 11:55 AM

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