Jay Cutler and Kyle Orton both are beginning to understand the fans of their new teams are passionate about football -- but for very different reasons.
Cutler, whom the Denver Broncos traded to the Chicago Bears for Orton after his messy divorce with new Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, told The Waddle and Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago on Tuesday that Bears fans are more passionate about their team than Broncos fans are about theirs.
On the show, Cutler was asked about the 20,000 fans who showed up at Bears training camp in Bourbonnais, Ill., during the weekend.
"In Denver, we didn't have this many fans at all," he said. "We weren't even able to accommodate that many fans [at practice]. That's Chicago Bears fans for you. They're proud of their Bears.
"It's a lot [different]. Denver's like a 6 and Chicago's like a 9," Cutler said during the interview. "It's quite a bit different. Just the fans and how passionate they are, that's probably the biggest difference."
But Thursday night, a crowd of 13,402 Broncos fans turned out at Invesco Field in Denver to get their first glimpse of Orton. They showed their passion for the game in another way -- by booing him when he threw two interceptions and several bad passes during a structured scrimmage.
"Fans can cheer. They can boo," Orton said. "We've got good fans, and they're passionate about their football, that's for sure."
At least Orton wasn't the sole target. The crowd also booed punter Brett Kern for a pair of poor punts and let kicker Matt Prater have it for missing consecutive 43-yard field goal attempts at the end of the scrimmage, one to the right and one way left.
McDaniels was disappointed in a lot of things about the scrimmage, but certainly not the fans' reactions.
"It's the National Football League and that's what people do, and they'll cheer you when you should be cheered and boo you when you should be booed," McDaniels said. "Hey, I've been around for a while. I understand that that's going to happen and it doesn't surprise me and it doesn't disappoint me."
Orton and Cutler will both have a chance to compare notes on the passion of Broncos fans when the Bears visit Denver for a preseason game on Aug. 30. Given the way Cutler left Denver, the treatment Orton received on Thursday might pale in comparison to what's awaiting Cutler.
"Denver, am I looking forward to it? No. Just the whole hoopla that's going to come along with it," Cutler said on The Waddle and Silvy Show. "I'm excited to go back and see some of the guys there. I've got some really good friends back there, and get back to Denver and see if my house is still standing. Other than that, that's about all I'm excited about Denver."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.