Cutler is a SEVERE Type 1 diabetic.
His mood swings are completely beyond being fully controllable, in spite of an insulin pump and occasional on-the-sidelines injections.
It's not that Cutler can come off as disinterested or moody, it's that his glucose levels swing so violently during heavy exertions that it's a miracle he can play NFL football at all.
HYATT™ once worked with a man with a similarly severe diabetes condition.
He would normally be the nicest guy, but when that crazy kicked in, he was a lunatic, and it would happen literally in seconds, like throwing a light switch.
When low glucose serum levels kick in, the brain starts to lose it's ability to focus, causing disorientation and even a semi-trancelike state, until the insulin or glucose resupply has a chance to reestablish some sort of normalcy.
That blank look on Cutler's face is ACTUALLY akin to a seizure without the convulsions, and is known as hyperketonemia.
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) results from a shortage of insulin; in response the body switches to burning fatty acids and producing acidic ketone bodies that cause most of the symptoms and complications.
Try to remember that the next time you feel like calling some Down's Syndrome kid a "retard" - because that's pretty much what you are doing when you call Cutler an asshat or moody.
Those who know him well personally, SWEAR he is the kindest, shyest, most gentle man they know.
But stick a man with BPD and one with DKA on a football field together, exerting maximum effort, and you are literally lighting a fuse on a pickup truck load of fireworks.
PS: Kyle Orton is grossly under-rated as a QB.
He's one of the smartest football I.Q. guys in the league & has done alright for somebody with Chad Pennington type rubber band arm strength.
Had Lovie Smith just trusted him more, it's better than a 50/50 proposition that Middle Manning doesn't own that 2006 Super Bowl ring.
Grossman LOST that game, Manning didn't win it.
It was one of Peyton's worst post-season performances of his career & he hasn't played that badly in the playoffs since. (81.8 QBR)
FACT: In the 2006 post-season, Manning had only 3 TDs in 4 games, and threw 7 INTs in them.