Diabetes Won't End QB's Career

Jay Cutler realizes he should have recognized something was wrong last season when he lost 35 pounds and some zip on his famous fastballs.

"I had no energy," the Denver Broncos' third-year quarterback said yesterday. "We thought it might be stress and the grind of going through a whole season. But once I got back here and started working out again, I just wasn't making any improvement. I wasn't getting any stronger. I was still losing weight."

Routine blood tests that are required before players participate in the offseason strength and conditioning program revealed the answer: His sugars were about five times higher than normal.

Cutler, 25, met with doctors last month, and they told him he's an insulin-dependent diabetic. He got a crash course in the disease and its ramifications if uncontrolled.

"It's a little overwhelming to get that news and realize you're going to have to completely change your life," Cutler said. "It's not something that's going to go away. It's something I'm going to have to deal with my entire life and you've got to come to grips with that."

He said he never worried about his career being in jeopardy.

"No. That's the first thing they said to me: 'It's going to affect your lifestyle a little bit, but you'll be able to continue to play football,' " Cutler said. "I'm not the first athlete to get diabetes and I won't be the last."

Other professional athletes who dealt with diabetes and had successful careers include NFL quarterback Wade Wilson, tennis stars Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King, Olympic swimmer Gary Hall Jr., NHL star Bobby Clarke, baseball Hall of Famer Ty Cobb and boxing greats Joe Frazier and Sugar Ray Robinson.

As long as Cutler manages his disease through exercise, medication and diet, there's no medical reason he wouldn't be able to continue performing at the NFL level. He'll have to monitor his blood glucose levels during games and drink a sports drink if his sugars drop too low or take a shot of insulin if they skyrocket.

"I've got a lot of people watching me," Cutler said. "It's not going to affect me on the field. I'm going to make changes off the field, eating and stuff like that."

-- From News Services