NOT SURE IF CHICAGO IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR CALEB WILLIAMS, BUT HE’LL TRY
With painted nails and his girlfriend, he becomes the biggest figure in town and must win as a long-lost franchise quarterback, so he can do crazier things — such as building a $4.7 billion stadium
The new rescuer of pro football’s lost cause, who is supposed to build a $4.7 billion lakefront stadium and win eight Super Bowls, alerted everyone on social media. “Wait till y’all see draft day suit and my ladies dress. 1 of 1s,” gushed Caleb Williams, with a laughing emoji, before he wore silver polish on his pinkies at an NFL Draft function.
“I feel comfy in my own skin,” he explained. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I feel comfy in who I am, how hard I work, what I do in my daily life, how I act, how I treat people with respect.”
Would he let his fashion sense dominate his introduction to the league Thursday night, as he did last fall, when he wore a red dress for GQ magazine? Williams did not, showing up in Detroit with a custom navy suit including two zippers, white crosses on his chest, a black t-shirt, a beard, a mustache, a pink phone and a painted pinkie.
And of course, his girlfriend, Alina Thyregod, a blond in a form-fitting silver dress, after playing a game of Monopoly in his hotel.
Where were we, the Oscars?
“To be able to look at this crowd and dream of these moments. … It is an honor. I am very privileged,” he said. “I am the right player because I care. I care about the community, the team, the facility. I care about the Chicago Bears. Means the world to me. Been a dream. I’m excited and ready to go.”
Is he? Is he sure? Was it as simple as dancing with the No. 1 jersey — didn’t take long to remove that from Justin Fields — while wearing his new cap, hugging Roger Goodell, kissing Thyregod on the neck and yelling “Whoooo!” to the downtown mobs? Every item he wore, remember, belonged to a dismal organization. They are the Bears, with a song called “Bear Down.” He doesn’t know it, as he showed at a post-draft party in Chicago, grinning and singing and waving a triumphant fist for a happy crowd: “The Bears. … So happy, so proud.”
He just wants to win, eight championships, as he has said. If he doesn’t win one? I would blame it on the town, Losersville U.S.A., which can’t get football or basketball or baseball or hockey or anything right. “My last goal is immortality,” Williams said. “The only way to reach that is winning championships. That’s big for me, and something that is the reason I play the game. The history since I’ve been alive hasn’t been necessarily where (the Bears) are winning big games and Super Bowls. I went into it with an open mindset. When I got there and got around everybody — players, coaches, executive staff — and I went from there and I fell in love with it. When I left there, I hopped on a call and said, ‘I’m OK being here. This is going to be alright. We’re going to do it — and we’re going to have fun doing it.’ ”
I’ve never been to a nail parlor in Chicago or in the north suburbs, where the Bears train. He will be there — any day, any hour. “You go to a nail salon and it’s peaceful,” Williams said. “It’s something that not many people are doing. But I go there and I just sit down, I throw on my (headphones), I turn on a movie. I’m chilling, not bothered by anything other than what I want to be bothered by.”
He is described as a “really intelligent guy” by his new boss, Ryan Poles, who chose Williams with the No. 1 overall pick. What both will learn very fast is that he becomes the biggest figure in America’s third-largest market. This is a place swarmed by idiotic politics, weasel news media and bitter wind chills, and in his case, he will not be prepared as a USC communications major for what he should deliver in his initial seasons. He can’t simply be the Rookie of the Year and help the Bears to a winning record. He must remind 8.9 million metropolitan residents why he and his team should play in a new domed ballpark, with the team putting up only $2.3 billion in private funding, with a style of play that turns on every male, female and automaton. There is more to this challenge than finally giving the Decatur Staleys — who moved up the dusty trail in 1921 and barely have provided a good signal-caller — a franchise frickin’ quarterback.
Caleb Sequan Williams, whose father once dreamed of his son not playing for a bad organization, must help the Bears become credible. In the process, he must dive into stadium affairs, which would be helped immensely if he turned on the town and made the playoffs at once. Wednesday, team officials invited an overly enthusiastic mayor, Brandon Johnson, to a ceremony that included a pastor, Rev. Dr. Charlie E. Dales, who actually said in deep prayer, “We thank you for all the people who will benefit from the Bears staying in Chicago.” Problem was, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was quashing the plan, saying at another news conference, “I’m highly skeptical of the proposal that’s been made and I believe strongly that this is not a high priority for legislators and certainly not for me, when I compare it to all the other things.”
The way sports operations work in Chicago — as we’ve seen with the White Sox, who are 3-22 as they try to bogusly swindle their own new park — is how teams take one mere lead to win legislation. The new lead of the Bears, who haven’t won a playoff game since 2010 and have won one Super Bowl in 58 seasons of trying, is Williams. They invited media to gather on the eve of the draft. Speaking of a fixed roof and large translucent windows, team president and CEO Kevin Warren said, “You'll feel like you're outdoors, that you may have to wear sunglasses.” But he added, knowing how the city has trotted out such renderings forever, “This is not an easy project. Chicago doesn’t like it easy. We like to do the difficult things — the things that resonate with people for generations to come.”
Which is why house speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said, “I’m going to say to you publicly what I said to Kevin Warren privately last week: If we were to put this issue on the floor for a vote right now, it would fail.” Don’t worry, Rev. Dales. The Bears won’t be leaving for San Antonio. They set up shop downtown once again, ignoring Arlington Heights and other local shops who want them, and all I have to say to Williams is to keep wearing your nails as you wish.
Remember, his fetish comes from a mother who was a nail technician. It’s his hope to break down football’s haunting machismo through a foundation, called Caleb Cares, that focuses on mental health recognition. He wants to break down bullying, and in my mind — as a columnist who heard “Mariotti Sucks!” chanted at White Sox games and was called a “f—ing fag” by the team’s manager, while creeps giggled — he has chosen the perfect place. So he broke down and cried to his mother after a loss to Washington last season. So he has fun with his nails and clothing.
Win games. Challenge for the Super Bowl. The entire town will join him at the salon.
“I go out every single day, and blood, sweat and tears, I give my all on every single play, every chance that I get,” Williams said of his tears. “And so, been an advocate for mental health, and you know, trying to show your emotions and express yourself.”
Some people call him a Hollywood creature, smelling the $10 million he made in NIL money after winning the 2022 Heisman Trophy. One was Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who voiced concern about Williams’ character. “You just humble yourself coming in the building. It’s one of those things where you can’t bring that Hollywood stuff into the building. Especially not with guys who have played this game at a high level for consecutive years in the league,” he said. “We’re going to see through it. It’s like: ‘Nah. What you did in college? The Hollywood? Nah. You’ve got to prove yourself. That stuff doesn’t matter.’ ’’
Harsh? This team wants to win in a difficult division, with Detroit, Green Bay and Minnesota. “At the end of the day, we want him to be the absolute best he can be. That’s what we’re bringing him in for, to win games,” Johnson said. “Truly just learning who he is as a person and learning him deeper than just all the Hollywood stuff you see, but actually trying to learn and get to know him and then knowing from there what pushes him. You kinda hear all of the comparisons, the ‘generational talent’ and all that being thrown around. But I think, too, it’s hard to compare him to Patrick Mahomes and guys like that. Patrick Mahomes didn’t come in right away and do what he’s been doing the last few years in his rookie year.”
There’s more. One NFL quarterback coach told the Athletic: “The locker room part of it concerns me. I don’t know him from a can of paint, but what I’ve heard and what I’ve seen from watching interviews, he’s going to have to understand the difference in where he’s at and how he’s been treated to being the quarterback in an NFL locker room. … You just have to hope your team and staff and mentorship can support him.”
Said an NFL offensive assistant: “He gives off a Russell Wilson vibe with this lack of self-awareness. ‘I’m kind of above everybody.’ Not bad. Just a little where you want to see him be a more regular guy. Are you gonna be able to coach him or is he gonna be more worried about his marketing team?”
Then a former NFL scout said, astonishingly: “Raw emotion is great, but Caleb's thing? That was ridiculous to me. That threw up major red flags. ... I will tell you, he scares the sh— out of a lot of NFL teams too. The book on him is he's just kind of a weird kid. One GM told me it's like if Prince played quarterback.”
Prince? I’d enjoy having his prototype as my quarterback. So would Poles, who drafted Rome Odunze at No. 9 as another Williams target. “He came across as a really good teammate. Easy to talk to. Down to earth,” the general manager said after numerous meetings in Chicago and Los Angeles. “We’ve talked through this process about the whole Hollywood thing. He’s all ball. Wants to work. Wants to get better. Wants to win as a team. That’s the No. 1 thing for him on top of being successful. So I think the biggest thing is, does he fit our culture and what we’re trying to do? And all signs were that he does.”
Williams moved on, in stride. “It was good for them to be able to go back to the (front office) and speak on how I am instead of all the stuff that everybody sees every day on me,” he said. He’s even getting advice from another former Bears quarterback, Cade McNown, who busted and suggested to Williams in the Los Angeles Times: “I watched a ‘30 For 30’ on the 1985 Bears. That should be required viewing for Caleb.”
In Chicago, he was just another guy at the dinner table. “I’m just one of them — nothing more, nothing less,’’ he said. ‘‘Same person every day. What they saw at the dinner is the person that I am five years from now, 10 years from now, 15 years from now. Hopefully with a couple of more accolades on that list.’’
When Williams isn’t in a locker room, he attends baseball games, flies to Formula One races and hangs with stars. One night in Beverly Hills, a steak house wouldn’t let him in with a sweatsuit. His dinner partner, Denzel Washington, turned into an angry film character. “Movie Denzel,” he said. “He goes off on the guy, and he goes back to regular Denzel. He’s giving me wisdom.”
As expected, the Washington Commanders took Jayden Daniels and resisted offers from Las Vegas and other teams. The New England Patriots will try in vain to replace Tom Brady with Drake Maye. The shocker came when the Atlanta Falcons, who just signed Kirk Cousins for $180 million, drafted Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8. His personal story becomes more amazing, after a history of injuries. Does a team think about the distant future with a quarterback who turns 24 next month? J.J. McCarthy went to Minnesota, meaning the NFC North now has two acclaimed rookies to join Jordan Love and Jared Goff, who was cheered by Lions fans in the audience. Finally, at No. 12, the Denver Broncos took Bo Nix. Six in 12? Three will make it. Three will not.
Very soon, such as today, Bears fans will realize Williams accepts social media responses — on Instagram, on Twitter, on email to his personal website. You’ll see, under gallery photos, pictures of Williams huddling with four other men inside plastic cages in a high-level model scene. He shows one hand with an eight-ball on his thumb nail, a black index nail, then black and white and a green blank face and a red heart on his pinkie. When you call up the site, you’ll see his mission in life: Trendsetter. No excuses. No quit. Determined. The name is calebwilliams13.com, with his own logo.
I will be watching closely. Some people in Chicago are good, others are sick.
All he has to do is go 13-4 and dig dirt on a stadium site.
Will he win? Or demand a trade to a better team in a better town?
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.