Jay Cutler got his choice for President: Donald Trump.
“I’m happy with the results,” the Bears quarterback said Thursday at Halas Hall. “I’ve supported Trump for a while. I’m not going to dive into it — I know it’s a sensitive issue — but I like where it’s going.”
That Cutler needed to add the caveat speaks to the divisiveness of Tuesday’s election, which saw Trump win the Electoral College but not the popular vote.
“Everybody has their own beliefs and their own reason for those beliefs,” said inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman, when told of Cutler’s declaration. “I just respect everybody’s opinion.
“Whether my opinion’s different from his or not, you still gotta respect everybody.”
Guard Kyle Long feigned outrage, jokingly, when asked about the quarterback’s endorsement — but then, eloquently, made it clear he didn’t stand on the same side as his friend.
“I think that with our system that’s in place, I think, and I’m hoping, that checks and balances and everything will work out the way it was drawn out to do so,” he said. “Hopefully we can just kinda get together. That’s the big thing. Love one another.
“There’s no reason to not like somebody if you don’t know them, or feel some certain way about some other type of person. Give somebody a chance. That’s what I’ve found. And I’ve made a lot of friends because of it.”
Sharing a locker room gives Long a greater respect for players with diverse backgrounds.
“You get an understanding and appreciation and a respect for the things that certain people have to go through for whatever reason it is, right or wrong,” Long said. “And it kinda gives you a little bit of a perspective and makes you understand how little acts of kindness, little acts of going out of your way to be nice to somebody can go a long way.”
Bears players said earlier in the week they were somewhat hesitant to debate the race in the locker room, knowing the depths of passion both candidates engendered during their bid for office.
That holds true outside the locker room, too; tight end Zach Miller called America a “divided country.”
“Hopefully everybody comes together, whoever’s leading our country,” he said. “I think we need to come together as people and do better …
“We don’t need to tear people down. We’re not all going to get along. We don’t all have to agree with each other. But in that sense, we don’t have to pick at each other. We don’t have to come at each other in a negative manner.”
Like Long, Miller hopes Trump is elevated by those around him.
“We got a guy leading our country now who nobody knows what’s going to happen,” Miller said. “But hopefully he surrounds himself with people to help us move forward as a country and as a united country.”
Miller compared a locker room to a family, saying that “brothers fight” sometimes, be it over politics or other issues. Safety Harold Jones-Quartey, though, said it’s easier not to get into the debate.
“I had a coach who always said, ‘If you wanna find a way to make less friends, talk about politics,’” he said. “I like to make friends.
“You vote for who you want, that’s up to you and that’s personal. But when we come to work, I prefer not to talk about it.”
Bears players have varying levels of optimism about the President-elect, but agree on one thing.
“Whoever is in that office, we gotta hope that they do great,” Freeman said. ”They represent everybody here.
“Regardless of who won or anything, we can’t wish bad on them, because we’re just wishing bad on ourselves.”
Follow me on Twitter @patrickfinley
Email: pfinley@suntimes.com
