Who’s Jessie James? … And who cares?

The NFL season is only three weeks old and there’s already some news on the athlete-female front. 

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who was engaged to actress Kristin Cavallari for 12 seconds this summer before getting cold feet in July, is supposedly dating her again. Did Cutler see Cavallari on “Dancing with the Stars” and realize what he’s missing? The Bears started 1-2, but I expect them to be eliminated from playoff contention before Cavallari is eliminated from the show.

In news involving two significantly less famous people, Denver Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker — he’s only in his second year in the league and unless you follow college football (he starred in Minnesota) or play fantasy football, chances are you’ve never heard of him — is dating singer Jessie James. If you’re wondering where you’ve heard the name Jessie James before … she was linked to another football player, Reggie Bush, earlier this year. On Twitter — where Decker and James are extremely gushy — the singer denied dating or hooking up with Bush.

Decker’s already had a better season in 2011 than his rookie year, but before you attribute it to the presence of James, remember, Matt Kemp of the Dodgers had a poor 2010 season (while dating Rihanna) and in 2011 he’s within striking distance of the Triple Crown (no Rihanna). Meaning once again, you can’t draw hard and fast conclusions about athletes who are dating celebrities.

I’m on a boat!

Candor in sports is always appreciated. It’s becoming more and more rare though. With the reach of the Internet, anything athletes or coaches say goes viral in minutes. It seems as if most athletes would rather communicate directly with fans via social media and cut the middle man (the media) out.
Which is why we should appreciate Ozzie Guillen — the new manager of the Miami Marlins (they’re moving and getting a new name this offseason). Guillen is leaving the White Sox for the Marlins for one reason: money.

Here’s what Guillen had to say about money versus championship rings:

“With the rings, I can’t do [anything] with that. But with money, I can go buy me a new boat, I can go buy me a new car … I can go to Spain. With the ring, I can go to United Airlines and say, ‘Hello, I won the 2005 championship. Can you fly me to Spain?’ Hell, no.”

– Jason Raj McIntyre covers athletes off the field and runs the popular blog, The Big Lead.