Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
The beard stays
Quarterback trying to hold on to winning streak
Jay Cutler says you don’t mess with a streak, so he’s keeping his beard as long as Miami is winning.
DAVIE — We can officially put Jay Cutler in the category of superstitious professional athletes.
Cutler has been sporting a beard for the past two weeks. The Miami Dolphins beat the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots in the two games they played those weeks.
Cutler doesn’t want to jinx his team, so he’s keeping the beard for at least another week.
“My wife hates it! Hell, I don’t really like it. But you can’t mess with a winning streak,” said Cutler, who has a 6-5 record as the Dolphins’ starting quarterback this season. “We’ll see how long it goes.”
When asked if he’s dying his beard, which is starting to resemble Andrew Luck’s neck beard because the hairline starts far down his neck, Cutler denied that he’s trying to hide his age.
“There’s gray in there,” said Cutler, a 34-year-old who is completing his 12th NFL season. “I’m getting old quickly.”
Cutler credits Miami’s limiting turnovers and penalties for the upswing in offensive production. But that doesn’t means he’s ready to keep playing past this season, during which he has endured inconsistent performances, a concussion and broken ribs.
“I’m enjoying playing right now, and that’s really it,” said Cutler, who has a 85.4 passer rating, which checks in as the ninth best in his NFL seasons as a starter. “It’s one game at a time….After this season those conversations could be had. But right now it’s not fair to anybody.”