A new book reveals how desperate Caleb Williams and his family were to avoid being drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2024.
ESPN shared excerpts from Seth Wickersham’s upcoming book “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” in which the author received significant access to Williams’ camp in the leadup to the 2024 NFL Draft. Both Williams and his father Carl went on record prior to the draft in discussing how much they hoped the Bears would not draft Williams.
Carl Williams described Chicago as “the place quarterbacks go to die,” and questioned whether the Bears would give his son the necessary support to succeed. He even spoke with Archie Manning about the maneuvers used to keep Eli Manning from the San Diego Chargers in 2004, and contemplated whether Caleb could join the UFL for a year in order to pick his team via free agency.
“I don’t want my son playing for the Bears,” Carl Williams told several agents.
Caleb Williams seemed to be on the same page as his father.
“Do I want to go there? I don’t think I can do it with [former Bears offensive coordinator Shane] Waldron,” Williams was quoted as telling confidants.
Caleb Williams wanted to go to the Minnesota Vikings after a successful meeting with coach Kevin O’Connell, but the Bears were steadfast in their refusal to consider passing on Williams or trading him. Carl Williams advised his son to publicly attack the Bears and the city of Chicago to try to dissuade them from drafting Caleb, but Caleb said he “wasn’t ready to nuke the city” to avoid being drafted by them.
Ultimately, Williams was won over by the Bears after a pre-draft visit to Chicago, and felt he could “do it for this team.”
Carl Williams had said as early as 2023 that he was prepared to try to engineer the right landing spot for his son. This is the first we have heard about how hard the family tried to avoid landing with the Bears, however.
Caleb Williams’ intuition was right about Waldron, who was ultimately fired midway through the season. The quarterback’s patience paid off, as his new head coach is one of the brightest offensive minds in the game and turned down other jobs in order to work with Williams.
Williams showed promise as a rookie for the Bears, throwing for 3,541 yards with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions. The biggest issue was that he was sacked a league-worst 68 times.
