You're up Caleb Williams, Part II: 'Mini Mahomes'
Now, the flamboyant flamethrower must deliver. He may be 'generational' like the GOAT-in-progress this team missed on. Opinions are mixed, but there's more to Caleb Williams than what meets the eye.
Miss Part I? Read here.
He paints his fingernails. For football games. And when he’s not inscribing “F” and “U” and those two other letters directed at USC’s opponent that week, this quarterback busts out nail polish as hot pink as both his cell phone and lip gloss — yes, lip gloss — while taking in a March Madness game.
He wore a red dress for a GQ photo shoot. One GM said he’s essentially Prince playing quarterback. One exec told Go Long he’s “spoiled and demanding,” while a scout added that Williams has enjoyed “red carpet treatment since the 9th grade,” reflective in his father reportedly asking NFL teams if it’d be possible for his son to receive a stake in ownership and, per one club official, claiming Chicago is too windy.
When the Trojans lost to Washington last November, 52-42, his first reaction was to immediately run toward his mother in the stands, leap into her arms and… cry. And cry. With Mom holding a sheet of paper to cover their faces, Williams’ body convulsed in agony.
He’s the first true NIL superstar in college football, reportedly earning $10 million at USC.
Suffice to say, the curious case of Caleb Williams was a new one for NFL scouts these last three years. It’s their job to hyper-analyze all glam, all tears to decipher if this is a quarterback who’ll rise up in the face of NFL adversity or wilt. Or prove too fragile for such a violent game played by violent grown men. Honestly, that’s the sort of rhetoric I expected to hear from one trusted scout who’s been following Williams closely. Instead, this scout reveals the exact opposite. He effusively praises Williams’ iron will. Before even touching on the QB’s athletic gifts, he insists all pizzazz is an all-time head fake.
The idea that Williams is not a competitor, not tough is “a completely false narrative” to him.
“I just think it’s different than what most people are used to,” the scout says. “This guy is the ultimate team player, the ultimate competitor. This is the guy you really want leading your franchise.”
The Bears have to open their mind, he believes, to a quarterback who simply “looks” different and “sounds” different.
“He’s one of the true Generation Z quarterbacks that we’ve seen, and there’s something wrong with it only if you find something wrong with it.
“Ultimately though he loves his teammates and he just wants to win.”
“This dude is the ultimate competitor.”
The history of the quarterback position in Chicago is a horror show. We examined recent history in Part I, but there’s also 12th overall pick Cade McNown and Jay Cutler’s 2-11 record vs. the Packers and, speaking of Prince, Bears fans would love to permanently forget the Super Bowl that featured the musician playing “Purple Rain” in a monsoon. That night vs. the Colts, Rex Grossman turned the ball over three times. So many special defenses have been wasted through this team’s history.
Last season was another gut punch. In August, Justin Fields vowed to throw for 4,000 yards and received more MVP bets than Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Justin Herbert combined. The city allowed itself to believe the dawn of a new quarterback day had arrived. Then, Fields faded like Bears passers past while the team’s archnemesis 200 miles to the north, the Green Bay Packers, simply ushered in their third Week 1 starter in 30+ years (Jordan Love) who threw for more yards (4,159) and more touchdowns (32) than any Bears quarterback in the team’s history. He’s 25 years old.
To break the cycle, the Bears could not play by the same old rules. Yes, he’s eccentric. Y.A. Tittle hunched over with blood trickling down his head, this is not.
But this Trojan QB is a Trojan Horse.
There’s far more to Caleb Williams than what meets the eye.
Look closely and the eccentric quarterback may be singularly capable of awakening the position up from the dead in Chicago.