With the NFL schedule officially released tonight, it got me thinking about which games I would like to attend. That thought quicky trailed to games I have attended and finally to the question of the day: Which one was most unforgettable?
For me, it would have to be Jay Cutler’s first game at Soldier Field as starting QB for the Bears. I was living in Denver at the time and like most of you, remember where I was and what I was doing when news broke of Jay Cutler being traded from the Denver Broncos
to the Chicago Bears.
I was ecstatic.
Unable to reach out to all my friends and family because I was working as an EMT at the time, I had to resort to talking with local Broncos fans in various hospitals about the news. Doctors, nurses, firefighters and the like. To say our reactions were polar opposites would be an understatement.
Jay was just 26 years old coming off a Pro Bowl season and universally considered one of the top young QBs in the entire league. Easily the most physically talented with the most potential of any QB that Chicago had ever had in my lifetime and we somehow landed him.
I was fortunate enough to land tickets to the home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 20th, 2009 with my cousin who was and is to this day a massive Steelers fan. Chicago was 0-1 after the week 1 loss to Green Bay. Pittsburgh was 1-0 after an overtime win against the Titans and had an elite offense led by Ben Roethlisberger, Santonio Holmes, Rashard Mendenhall and Hines Ward.
And we won.
Pittsburgh went up 7-0 early with a TD catch by Matt Speath, but Chicago would respond with a TD pass to our own backup TE, Kellen Davis. After a Big Ben TD run, Smokin’ Jay would find Johnny Knox for another score to even the lead with 6 minutes left in the game.
Pittsburgh would drive down the field and reach the 25 yard line but kicker Jeff Reid would miss the go ahead FG with 3 minutes to play.
And then Jay took over much like we have seen Caleb Williams do in his young career thus far.
Jay drove us down the field all the way to the Steelers 26 yard line, thanks in large part to his dual threat RB Matt Forte, to give Robbie Gould a chance for the game winner with just 20 seconds on the clock. Robbie nailed it.
Good as Gould.
Bears safety Craig Steltz would recover a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Cutler would kneel the ball to ice the game.
Bears win 17-14.
I will never forget staying in my seats long after the stadium was empty, soaking in the atmosphere in a back and forth nail biter even though I am sure it doesn’t compare to any of the close games we witnessed this past season. That said, it was pretty cool to see Jay Cutler’s first game as a Bear in Chicago. And even cooler I got to experience it with my cousin. Definitely something I will never forget.
