These kids today.
Jay Cutler says he has a stronger arm than John Elway? “Hands down,” Cutler told the Sporting News.
And in a related matter, the local priest says he can deliver the Lord’s Prayer with greater authority than the pope. Hands folded.
Goodness. Cutler does have a terrific arm. He might even be a better pure passer than Elway because Cutler is more accurate and throws a more catchable ball.
But Elway had the strongest quarterback arm who ever lived. End of discussion. At least it was, until Cutler’s confidence was nudged to his lips.
“I don’t know why there’s an argument about who throws harder,” said Rod Smith, the only Broncos receiver who caught passes from both Elway and Cutler. “Quarterbacking is about precision. It’s about accuracy. I played with Will Furrer. To me, he threw harder than both of them.”
A great point. The lefty Furrer was one of about a thousand NFL quarterbacks who had a stronger arm than Joe Montana. It’s just not the point of this discussion. Quarterbacks are ultimately judged by Super Bowls — at least Cutler didn’t go there with Elway — but to those who were given rocket arms, velocity is a badge of honor. During our town’s invigorating baseball Rocktober last year, I asked Cutler who had the city’s strongest arm, him or shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.
“I do, no question,” Cutler said.
I put the velocity debate to Broncos receiver Javon Walker last year. Walker, who is now with the Raiders, had caught passes from Brett Favre in Green Bay and Cutler.
If Favre threw 100 mph, how hard does Cutler throw?
“Maybe 95,” Walker said.
Then again, this was after the Broncos’ third game of the 2007 season, when Cutler might have been suffering from the early, undiagnosed effects of Type 1 diabetes that ultimately caused him to lose 35 pounds.
Cutler is much stronger this year and his deep throw that overshot a streaking Eddie Royal last Sunday was something to behold, even if it was incomplete.
“I made the comment I had never seen anyone throw like that except for John,” said Bubby Brister, who was Elway’s backup in 1997-98, at the alumni game vs. Tampa Bay last week. “Stronger than? I don’t know. But equal to is sure possible. He can throw the heck out of it, now.”
Brister, it should be noted, was a firsthand witness to Elway’s arm strength in the final two years of the Duke’s career. This was after Elway played through a shoulder injury in 1991 that later needed arthroscopic surgery. It was after Elway needed cortisone shots to numb the pain of a bruised tendon in his right shoulder in 1992. And it was after Elway essentially played the final years of his career with his left plant leg damaged.
Figure a few mph are removed with each shoulder and knee surgery. Cutler was born in 1983, Elway’s rookie year. He was too young to appreciate the Elway arm pre-1991.
“I’ll say this: With John, they used to set the Jugs machine at 70-80 mph for us receivers to simulate John’s throws,” said Smith, who didn’t start catching Elway’s passes in practice until 1994. “Also, that cross in your chest? I got a few of those from John. With Jay, I didn’t get a chance to experience that too much, but he definitely has a cannon arm. Both of them have plenty, I’ll put it like that.”
To Elway’s credit, he told the Sporting News that Cutler’s arm is stronger than his was at the end of his career and “might even be as good as mine when I was his age.”
Is a decade or so already playing Bunyanesque tricks with my memory? Maybe it’s possible Babe Ruth didn’t really hit them a mile or Elway couldn’t really throw a ball through a brick wall. Or maybe Elway came from a more modest generation.
“I’m glad Jay’s got some confidence like that; that’s what they need,” Brister said. “You need to have confidence to make those throws that are tight and questionable for other guys.”
Perhaps the only way to successfully play beneath the large shadow of Elway is to have the nerve to shrink it. Not that the shadow of five Super Bowl appearances ever disappears.
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
