Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler Gets Caught in Crossfire of Wisconsin Senate Race

Jan. 23: Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler walks off the field after the NFC Championship NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Chicago. (AP)

He seems like a perfectly nice guy, even has a foundation for underprivileged kids and others suffering from diabetes. But as quarterback for Chicago, he’s expecting to get tousled by Green Bay Packers fans, and that's exactly what's happening to QB Jay Cutler, who twice in two days has been caught in the Wisconsin Senate race crossfire.

Cutler, who went to Chicago from the Denver Broncos in 2009, first became the butt of political jokes on Monday, when Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan sliced him up in a speech at the Economic Forum in Chicago.

The joke was all in good fun, the usual icebreaker a politician starts with in a speech.

I want to thank you all for inviting me to speak. It was especially gracious of you to host me, even though I’m a Packers fan and I assume most of you are Bears fans," Ryan began.

"But that doesn't mean we can't work together. As chairman of the House Budget Committee, I stand ready to do whatever it takes to help you re-sign Jay Cutler. I'm here to talk about the economy today -- about the need to get four quarters of strong, consistent performance. That wasn't another Jay Cutler joke, I swear. It could be, but it's not," he continued.

On Tuesday, Wisconsin Democrats took it another step. After Sen. Herb Kohl, who incidentally owns the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team, announced he would retire at the end of this year, Ryan, who's been weighing a Senate bid, opted against it.

That leaves the door open for former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson to step into the Republican race, a decision he is likely to make when he returns from overseas, former aides told Fox News.

In anticipation, the Wisconsin Democratic Party is already lobbing verbal bombs against Thompson, but somehow Cutler again wasn't spared.

"Republicans would be better off with Jay Cutler as their candidate in Wisconsin. Cutler has at least helped the Green Bay Packers win a Super Bowl, while Tommy G. Thompson has spent the last decade doing the bidding of the Bush administration and his special-interest clients at his lobbying firm," Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman Matt Canter said, referring to the controversy surrounding Cutler's injury during the NFC championship game this year. The Packers defeated the Bears in the game.

Cutler's agent did not immediately return a request for comment from Fox News and his Twitter account has made no mention of it. Most likely, Cutler is an unwitting pawn in the Wisconsin Senate chess match, but Wisconsin lawmakers should probably not expect an endorsement any time soon.

Click here to read about the Wisconsin Senate race.