NEWSLETTER
Caleb Williams visiting the Chicago Bears has created a bit of buzz.
And it does not seem like it will be quieting down anytime soon.
NFL reporter Jordan Schultz shares what he heard came from the visit. And it all sounds tremendous to me:
To be clear, I didn’t think there was anything Caleb Williams could say or do to scare the Bears off and prevent them from taking him first overall in the NFL Draft later this month. But Willams making an “excellent impression” upon arrival to Halas Hall fills me with a sense of relief. It also has me thinking about this one particular line in National Lampoon’s Van Wilder where Van, played by Ryan Reynolds, says “first dates are interviews.” But that might be a different conversation for another time. With that being said, I digress.
Seeing this news from Jordan Schultz had me thinking about the steps the Bears are making as they go through the pre-draft vetting process with the presumptive first pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. The way I see it, Caleb Williams making a visit to Halas Hall on Wednesday is just another step in the getting-to-know-you process the Bears are going through right now. This round of vetting follows what has been an ongoing courtship between Chicago’s football team and the 2024 NFL Draft’s top-rated quarterback prospect.
Caleb Williams has met with the Chicago Bears’ most important people
It’s not just that the Bears hosted Caleb Williams for a visit on Wednesday. And it isn’t even all about reports about Chicago getting his only pre-draft visit. For me, the most notable nugget came from ESPN’s Marc Silverman noting that Williams’ meal also included team executives and current players on the Bears’ roster. So we could see this as just a meeting, but the reality here is that this is all part of the immersion process for Williams and the Bears. Just add some future teammates to the list of power players he has met during this journey.
For what it’s worth, Williams has already met with Bears Chairman George McCaskey, who said this about meeting Caleb Williams (via The Athletic): “He was remarkably gregarious, engaged and friendly. When they got down to football, he was right in it.”
Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus came away with good vibes from his earlier meeting with Williams at USC’s Pro Day.
“Just him and I in the room together, just really hearing his journey,” Eberflus said, via ESPN. “His journey, from being a little guy. What I gleaned from that is how his mother and father love him very much. Very supportive. You could see his character, his football character there, his football knowledge as I talk through that. It was a really good visit.”
As you might expect Bears GM Ryan Poles came back with positive feedback after the USC trip.
“When you talk to his teammates, they don’t like him, they love him,” Poles said, per the Bears’ official site. “His leadership, how he brings people together. He’s intentional with his leadership. Same goes with the staff. I’m having a hard time finding a person that doesn’t like him or even love him and thinks that he can reach the highest limits. The feedback’s been good.”
And to think, these interactions are all just steps that are part of a larger journey. One were the end point of the team taking Wiliams with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft in three weeks.
Given all of that information and all of the quotes above, can you start to see why this team decided on trading Justin Fields? Giving Caleb Williams a clean runway so he can take the keys of this organization and go without the anchor of another quarterback’s presence was the only path that made sense for this franchise. And while there is a part of me that would’ve loved to see Fields work out in Chicago, I’m also very much ready for a new era of Bears football.
