The Bears didn’t waste time with Caleb Williams in NFL draft process
Some NFL teams, when selecting a player in the NFL draft, have to hold a player’s hand. They have to explain a lot of nuances about the transition from college life to the pros. They have to manage the person as well as the player. Some of the athletes who enter the NFL are either overwhelmed by the new set of responsibilities they face or are unprepared for them (or both). Caleb Williams of USC did not give the Chicago Bears those kinds of headaches. The Bears didn’t have to spend extra time talking to Williams about being responsible. They saw that Caleb Williams was already taking the NFL — and being successful — very seriously. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated has more details from Bears general manager Ryan Poles:
Poles welcomed members of Williams’s team to his suite at the Hyatt. Among the five guys to represent him was a lawyer and a body work guy, and a trainer, and in talking through things with them a clearer picture emerged for the Bears on how the kid approached the sport.
“You knew that structure mattered to him,” Poles says. “There were people in place to help him be successful. As you went along, you understand there’s people put in place that are there that allow him to play ball to be the best player he can be. It’s not like, ‘Hey, I have a team to say I have a team.’ Everybody’s got a role, and it’s to allow him to be the best football player he can be and eliminate as many distractions and stresses as possible.
“A lot of times we have to help them put structure together. This kid already has it there for him.”
Caleb Williams and his family valued NFL-level preparation at USC, so it’s no surprise that the Bears found they had a ready-to-go player. No hand-holding necessary.
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