Caleb Williams Reveals He Preferred to Play for Bears' Rival Instead
Caleb Williams enters his second season with the Chicago Bears as the leader of a talented supporting cast. If he'd had it his way soon after finishing up his career with the USC Trojans, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner would've been playing elsewhere in the NFC North.
"I need to go to the Vikings," Williams told his father, Carl, before the 2024 NFL Draft, according to ESPN.
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Caleb Williams, who was ultimately taken No. 1 overall by the Bears, wasn't fully trusting of Chicago's coaching staff, including now-former head coach Matt Ebeflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who's also no longer with the team.
Williams had developed a relationship with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell, who wound up drafting Michigan Wolverines passer J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 overall choice.
The elder Williams worked to find a way to get around the NFL Draft, Seth Wickersham writes, in an effort to allow his son to pick which team he would play for in the NFL.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams scrambles against the Vikings.Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
"Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die," Carl Williams told Wickersham leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft.
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Wickersham is the author of "American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback." That book will be published in September.
Caleb Williams was sacked a league-high 68 times last season. The Bears fired Eberflus during Williams' rookie season and replaced him with offensive guru Ben Johnson in January.
"Being able to be in this position, being able to have a first year the way I did, ups and downs, and then to be able (to) come in here, be as confident as I was last year or possibly even more and to be able to get here with the group that we have, I really can't wait to work with these guys," Williams said.
Related: Caleb Williams Predicted To Be In the Mix for NFL MVP
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