Bear Digest

Jay Cutler Arrested on DUI and Gun Charges in Tennessee

The former Bears quarterback was involved in a traffic incident, leading to his arrest and charges according to reports.

Gene Chamberlain

Former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler during a game during the 2011 season.
Former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler during a game during the 2011 season. / Mike De Sisti via Imagn Content Services, LLC
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Former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has been released from jail after being arrested and charged Thursday with DUI, gun possession while under the influence and two other charges on Thursday, according to a report by TMZ.

Cutler posted bond and was released Thursday night. The arrest was in Franklin, Tenn. The other charges were violation of the implied consent law and failure to exercise due care.

Cutler, who is now 41, played for the Bears from 2009 through 2016, then spent a season with Miami in 2017. He has been out of the game since then but in the public eye at times because of his participation in a TV show with his ex-wife Kristin Cavallari, and also because of his participation on "Inside the NFL" in 2023. Cutler isn't on the show this year.

The all-time Bears leader in passing yards (23,443) and touchdown passes (154), Cutler led the Bears to one playoff berth, a win over Seattle in 2010 but then suffered a knee sprain in the first half of the NFC championship game at Soldier Field in a 21-14 loss to Green Bay.

There had been no other record of a Cutler arrest since he pled guilty to evading arrest after he reportedly vandalized an emergency telephone on Vanderbilt's campus in 2002. Three of four charges made against him were dropped as part of a plea agreement and he was suspended by the Vanderbilt football team after the incident.

The Franklin police department reported Cutler was "slurring his words" and officers noticed "a strong odor of alcohol" on cutler. They said the initial incident stemmed from a minor traffic collision around 5 p.m. in which Cutler reportedly "rear-ended another vehicle."

Police said Cutler refused sobriety field tests and was taken to a local hospital where he had a blood test done through a blood search warrant.

The report said Cutler had two guns in the car, including a loaded pistol. 

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.