I’ve been accused of taking this a little personal since I grew up a Chicago Bears’ fan, but my concern lies more with the responsibility that former athletes, turned broadcasters have when it comes to voicing their opinion on Twitter.

You know the story by now. Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler was hurt in the NFC Championship game against Green Bay and played one series in the third quarter before getting pulled with a leg injury.

The tweets started coming in from current and former jocks who were questioning Cutler’s heart and leadership qualities and asked just how hurt he could be (judging by his demeanor on the sidelines)

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The issue I have is those former athletes/broadcasters who stuck by their criticism of Cutler the next day, but followed up the comment with a wait and see approach on what the final tests proved on the injury.

It is irresponsible for broadcasters, reporters or journalists to throw out an opinion without knowing all the facts. I came across this article from Roy Peter Clark who wrote an article on this very subject for Poynter.org