JAY CUTLER IS ARRESTED AFTER, YEARS AGO, EJECTING ME FROM A CHICAGO CLUB
Tennessee police say he was drunk with a loaded handgun, which brings back memories of Cutler and Lance Briggs — and a bodyguard — having me and a friend tossed from The Underground for no good reason
The place was called The Underground, in Chicago’s River North area, across from a fire department and known for serving “millions of the most wonderful guests.” It was operated by Billy Dec, who was appointed to President Obama’s advisory commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. He never knew why he was assigned to the gig, especially when he was cracking down in the DJ booth.
I was one such wonderful guest. Dec knew me from the newspaper, the Sun-Times, and one night, two of his visitors were Jay Cutler and Lance Briggs. Cutler was new in town as (trumpets and drums please) “a big-name quarterback,” 15 years before Caleb Williams arrived with the Bears. I walked past them. Briggs summoned his bodyguard and pointed me out.
A burly man told me and my friend to leave The Underground and grabbed me by the arm. Restaurateur R.J. Melman saw the episode and said, “Is he removing Mariotti?” I did not see Billy Dec. I did not see Barack Obama.
But I did see Illinois Street. Briggs was mad because I criticized him, wondering why the veteran linebacker left the scene of an accident after crashing his Lamborghini. He smashed it into a light pole on Interstate 94, where police located the car at 3:15 a.m. Um, why would Briggs flee? Any particular reason? Shouldn’t the Bears have wondered? Nah, coach Lovie Smith didn’t care, saying his “spirits were good for being in a one-car accident.” The cops made him post a $100 bond.
Apparently, that was enough for Briggs to join Cutler in executing my departure, not long after I’d chatted with the Vanderbilt product at a Nashville restaurant. Both were laughing as I was treated like a tackling dummy.
Not to dwell on the past, but Cutler suffered a disappointing career — and was arrested Thursday night in Tennessee, facing four charges after a traffic accident. Now 41 and divorced from Kristin Cavallari, who moved on to a 24-year-old boyfriend, he stumbled as a network sportscaster and has nothing to do but drive under the influence, possess a loaded pistol and rear-end a vehicle in a suburban downtown area.
Said police: “During their conversation with Cutler, officers noticed a strong odor of alcohol. Cutler was also slurring his words and had blood shot eyes. Cutler refused field sobriety tests and was taken to a local hospital where a blood sample was obtained through a blood search warrant.”
Drunk with a loaded handgun? That’s Jay Cutler, long after football.
The Underground is closed. Dec has opened other restaurants in Chicago, Nashville and Tampa. He appeared on an “American Crime Story” show and hosts a podcast called “The Meal of Your Life.” Somewhere, Obama is seen thanking him on a video.
“Billy Dec …” he said.
There are things in this world I can’t explain. They usually happen in Chicago.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.