Wow. That was something.  One minute Bears fans are on their way to Lake Forest to hang General Manager Jerry Angelo and the next minute they are on their way to Soldier Field to build a statue in his honor.  What a strange reversal of fortune yesterday was.  Or was it?

Since we covered this BEFORE it happened, here's some external reaction to what may be a watershed day in Chicago Bears history:

Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune
If Jay Cutler doesn't raise red flags, Bears fans, you are color blind. From all appearances and indications, he has the maturity level of larva. The Bears on Thursday traded their first- and third-round picks this year, their first-round pick next year and Kyle Orton to the Broncos in exchange for Cutler, a 2009 fifth-round pick and a six-pack of baby formula.

Memphis Bengal (Sports Frog)
I would presume, a day of abject happiness for Bears fans as the news sinks in that they have been unexpectedly aggressive in addressing their quarterback woes. They didn't’t just meet the moment, they took the moment out for a nice dinner and then went back home with the moment and had sex with the moment like a 19-year-old on Viagra.

Tom Fornelli (Foul Balls)
I never got too excited about the idea of having Cutler in Chicago because I never thought it would actually happen, but now that it has, I'm getting this tingly feeling. Make no mistake about it, the Bears still have plenty of holes and I don't think Cutler alone takes us to the playoffs this season, BUT WE HAVE A QUARTERBACK.

Rickhouse (Tremendous Upside Potential
The Bulls winning the lottery is the closest thing I can compare yesterday's trade to. Only this time I feel like, as a lifelong die-hard Bears fan, I deserve this. For Rick Mirer, Jonathon Quinn, Shane Matthews, Kordell Stewart...all while the team's biggest rival has that asshole Favre running around, throwing touchdowns, smiling, having the time of his life. It was sickening, enough to make you question why you really like sports that much in the first place.

Jeff (Yardbarker)
The Chicago Bears hadn't done much this offseason, until this afternoon that is. Terms of the trade weren't immediately made available, but rumors have the Bears acquiring Jay Cutler for their 1st and 3rd round pick in this year's NFL Draft, their 1st in 2010 and Kyle Orton. He will follow a long line of great Chicago QBs: Rick Mirer, Cade McNown, Shane Matthews, Rex Grossman....er, nevermind.  He won't have big shoes to fill in Chicago, but did the Bears give up too much to get him?

Andy Dolan (Desipio)
Wait.  What did you just say?  Who traded two number ones and their mediocre QB for Jay Cutler? No, that’s funny, I thought you said the Bears did. Huh?  No, that can’t be right.  The Bears haven’t had a real quarterback for 20 years.   And even he was made out of paper mache and had to be glued back together about once a month. They haven’t had an adequately sized, talented quarterback for almost 60 years.Yeah, 60.  Sid Luckman retired in 1950. So the news that the Bears just traded for a 25 year old Pro Bowl QB who threw for 4500 yards and 25 touchdowns last year is a little disorienting. Finally, the Bears obsession with Vanderbilt dopes is going to pay off.

Chifan 13 (Windy City Gridiron)
Give it up to Jerry Angelo, ladies and gents....he actually followed through on what he said!

Our Hero and Role Model (Rosenblog)
I never believed Angelo could do it, but he did, and he still left himself with a second-round pick that should be high enough to get the wide receiver that Cutler desperately needs, even if they sign a veteran wide receiver that suddenly has to see this situation as a lot more attractive. At worst, the Bears have a quarterback that Devin Hester can't out-run.I haven’t been big on the way Cutler has acted in his broken relationship with the Broncos. He didn't’t like being trade bait. That’s part of the business. He felt he was lied to. That shouldn't’t be part of the business, but it is. He asked to be traded. He later said he didn’t. Messy. Childish in a lot of respects. But he gets to start over. He gets to come in clean. New start with a new team.And not just any new team -- the new team is the one he rooted for as a kid. And that might make all the difference – a team he has loved and a coach who knows how to throw an arm around a player.

Boomer (Bear Goggles) Unexpected is just the tip of the iceberg.  Fans in Chicago have been getting itchy all off season, hoping, praying in fact, for GM Jerry Angelo and the Bears to do something, anything, that would make us believe that they were serious about taking the Bears back to the Super Bowl.   Well those prayers were answered in a big way on Thursday with the trade for disgruntled Denver quarterback Jay Cutler.    Maybe it’s purely coincidence that it was the last day for season ticket holders to renew for the 2009 season.  Some people have already feared that this may be a PR move, but it was one that was needed. When Jerry Angelo failed to give Kyle Orton his vote of confidence in his post-season press conference and expressed the organization’s “fixation” on “stabilizing” the quarterback position, the speculation on Chicago’s 22nd starting quarterback since 1990 began.  With free agents like Jeff Garcia and Byron Leftwich still on the market, fans wondered how serious those claims were.  If Thursday is any indication, the Bears were serious.

Alex Marvez (Fox Sports)

Call it Da Deal. Not since the beer-and-brats days of Jim McMahon, Saturday Night Live spoofs and the Super Bowl Shuffle in the mid-1980s have the Chicago Bears fielded a bona fide star quarterback. They will now. While he will be working with an outstanding young running back (Matt Forte) and a decent enough offensive line after Thursday's free-agent signing of tackle Orlando Pace, Chicago still fields one of the NFL's worst wide receiver corps.The defense isn't what it once was either. The Monsters of the Midway were more Mothra than Godzilla in 2008. The Bears ranked 21st and 16th respectively in yards and points allowed. Chicago was especially poor against the pass, which explains why opponents attempted more throws against Chicago (622) than any other NFL team.

Pete Prisco (CBS Sportsline)

When breaking down the Chicago Bears decision to trade two first-round picks, a third-round pick and quarterback Kyle Orton to land franchise passer Jay Cutler from Denver Broncos, the price appears steep, but it isn't when you land a 25-year-old quarterback with Cutler's skills. Chicago has needed a real passer since the days of Sid Luckman.That was 60 years ago. That's a long, long time.You want proof: The Bears changed quarterbacks more than 40 times since the early 1990s. It's a who's-who of stiffs who have started at quarterback for the Bears the past couple of decades. Here are a few of them. Tell me to stop when you see a passer worth a damn: Moses Moreno. Steve Stenstrom. Jonathan Quinn. Craig Krenzel. Jim Miller. Will Furrer. Peter Tom Willis. That's not even including the horrors of trying to watch Bobby Douglass throw a football in the early 1970s. He made Mike Vick look like Dan Marino.On and on it goes. Cutler stops it. Orton didn't. That's why this deal works.

Rick Telander (Chicago Sun-Times)

Well, knock me over with a Kyle Orton neckbeard hair.I didn't bother paying attention to the Jay Cutler Sweepstakes because I knew the Bears would never seriously pursue the disgruntled Denver quarterback, never offer the Broncos enough to get him and of course never actually acquire him.But they did. Excuse me while I climb back into my chair and pour myself a dose of settle-down powders.This is quite simply the biggest trade in Bears history, and it's enough to make an entire city faint.It's basically this: former Bears starter Orton plus a couple of first-round picks for a fiery, talented guy who became angry and petulant when his team dared to express off season interest in New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel.

Peter King (SI)

It's a massive step down. Maybe Cutler will make the Bears a lot better. He certainly should. And the Broncos will take a step back, at least until McDaniels develops a quarterback in his own image. The saddest thing here? Cutler could have been a truly great player in McDaniels' offense. He may be great with the Bears; he certainly has the talent to be. But the Denver attack was tailor-made for Cutler's brains and ability to throw the deep ball. Whatever he says now, I know he'll always wonder how great he could have been in that offense, with that bright young coach -- whether he liked McDaniels or not.

Now, if the White Sox could only get a decent centerfielder. . .