Caleb Williams on facing pressure: "Attack it head on" |
CHICAGO — Chicago’s new quarterback has touched down in Chicago and met with the media at Halas Hall for the first time. No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams reaffirmed his passion for football and desire to make the Bears a winning team.
“It’s a team sport. That’s why I love this sport so much. But, my reason to go out there is to win games. My reason why I play games is to win games and win championships,” Williams said. “So, I want to be a big portion of it. I want to go out there. I want to have fun. I want to enjoy it and I want to do it with my teammates. What better place to do it than the Chicago Bears?” As the face of the franchise, the quarterback always receives the most attention and is subject to more scrutiny. This is not new territory for Williams as he has faced criticism for some of his unique qualities. Given this is not new for him, it should not be a problem at the next level for Chicago. Besides, he is more focused on winning. “I’m always going to have scrutiny. I do things like I paint my nails. I’m always going to have scrutiny over that. I wear funky clothes and things like that,” Williams said. “So, just do my job on the football field, win games. I think you win a bunch of games here, you’ll make a lot of people happy.” Even though the scrutiny is not new, there is added pressure playing in the NFL, especially for a team like Chicago that has historically struggled at the quarterback position. While Williams is a natural at avoiding pressure in the pocket, he intends to face the additional pressure of playing in the NFL head-on while drawing strength from his teammates. “I’m here. Rome’s here. Keenan Allen, a top-five defense that we had last year, special teams, all the new roles. We’re here. So, I’m excited,” Williams said. “I know everybody’s excited. The Bear fans are excited from what I’ve heard and seen and there’s no reason to duck. Attack it head first and go get it.” Following his selection, Williams received a three-and-a-half-minute video from his mother congratulating him on getting drafted No. 1 overall to the Bears. He really took this to heart, as he said compliments of that nature are not common in his family, given their gratitude for life in general. This was especially important to him, given his dedication to honoring his mother. He paints his nails to honor his mother, who spent her life as a nail technician. He has received a lot of backlash for this. Nonetheless, he has been steadfast in honoring his mother and painted his nails silver for the NFL Draft. Williams's next step is to learn the playbook and the offense under offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, which he said he will do sometime next week. That will also give him a chance to bond with his teammates and start building strong chemistry, especially with his receivers, including No. 9 overall pick Rome Odunze, Keenan Allen, and DJ Moore. Chicago will play in the Hall of Fame game on August 1, perhaps giving Williams, Odunze, Allen, and Moore an extra preseason game to build their in-game chemistry.
