Caleb Williams Addresses Book Excerpt That Revealed Pre-Draft Concerns With Bears

On Wednesday, Caleb Williams addressed the excerpt from Seth Wickersham's upcoming book, American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback, which detailed that Williams and his father, Carl Williams, considered circumventing the 2024 NFL draft so Williams could avoid getting drafted by the Chicago Bears.

The excerpt shared the concerns son and father had about him joining the Bears, and that after Caleb visited the Minnesota Vikings, he was interested in playing for Kevin O'Connell. To initially avoid being picked by the Bears, Carl went as far as speaking with lawyers to see if there was an opportunity to get around the league's CBA, considering having him sign with the United Football League, and talking with Archie Manning, who helped prevent Eli Manning from going to the San Diego Chargers in 2004.

"This whole storm that happened, It wasn’t something that we wanted to happen at this point," the Bears QB told reporters on Wednesday. "We’re focused on the present, we’re focused on now, we’re focused on getting this ship moving in the right direction ... For this to come out, it's been a distraction, so coming up here and addressing it is important today."

Caleb referred to his father's considerations to get around the Bears picking him in the draft as thoughts, not actions they went through with. He acknowledged he did have a good visit with O'Connell and the Vikings, but emphasized that once he visited the Bears, he knew he wanted to be part of the franchise's turnaround and that he still wants to be with Chicago.

"I wanted to come here and be the guy, be a part or the reason of why the Chicago Bears turn this thing around," Caleb said.

The second-year signal-caller also cleared up that his dad doesn't speak for him, and though his dad provided much of the information detailed in the excerpt, Caleb knows his dad is coming from a place of caring for his son.

"He cares so much about me, about my future," Caleb said of his dad. "We’ve been on this journey so long. All he wants is the best for me. ... I love him to death and I’m super fortunate to have him. But we had talks about it, understanding it's a right place and a right time, and there's times where it's not."

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