Caleb Williams was groomed to become the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft from an early age. A standout prep career for D.C. powerhouse Gonzaga High School helped make Williams a top-10 national recruit and top quarterback prospect. After leaving Oklahoma for USC after his freshman year, Williams exploded into the best QB in college football, winning the Heisman Trophy and leaving pro scouts salivating over his eventual arrival in the NFL.
Williams is now ready for his moment as the first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft with the Chicago Bears holding the selection. Williams is the rare prospect to hold the distinction of the No. 1 pick from the beginning of the season up until draft day. He is by all accounts a tremendous NFL QB prospect, and by some accounts a generational one.
Still, Williams’ NFL stock has come under attack in the lead up to the draft for some bizarre reasons. The 22-year-old QB paints his nails, has cried on the field, and just doesn’t seem … tough/masculine/whatever enough for some old school scouts. One former NFL scout came up with a ridiculous comparison for Williams, according to a report by journalist Pablo Torre’s investigative show.
“The book on him is he’s just sort of a weird kid,” a former NFL scout told reporter David Fleming. “One GM told me, it’s like if Prince played quarterback.” Watch the video here:
.@FlemFile on what a former NFL scout told him about Caleb Williams:
“Raw emotion is great, but Caleb’s thing? That was ridiculous to me. That threw up major red flags. … I will tell you, he scares the sh*t out of a lot of NFL teams too. The book on him is he’s just kind of a… pic.twitter.com/0XQXYvuZUd
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) April 23, 2024
There are a couple things we can take away from this report. For one, it’s no surprise that these comments come from a former NFL scout, because it’s the type of complaint that could only be lodged by an old man. Williams is truly the first Gen-Z football star with his penchant for social media clap backs and attack on misheld norms of masculinity.
Secondly, how is a comparison to Prince a bad thing!? Prince is one of the greatest performers of all-time, a widely beloved creative genius responsible for a legacy that will go on forever. If Caleb Williams can follow in Prince’s footsteps, he’s going to be just fine.
Bears fans weren’t mad at the comparison.
I know one thing. If Prince is running my team, we winning.
— Big DAVE (@BawlSports) April 23, 2024
Prince was the best performer on the field during a Super Bowl with multiple future Hall of Famers. I’ll take that comparison any day of the week. https://t.co/ZKVFEHMH21
— Mock Draft Enthusiast (@theee_jman) April 23, 2024
Prince is one of the most talented musicians/songwriters to ever exist on the planet. This kind of criticism is a thinly-veiled “masculinity” attack. Caleb Williams doesn’t fit this limited individual’s view of what a “man” is. https://t.co/5yguQHOJgn
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) April 23, 2024
Don’t forget that Prince put on one of the greatest halftime shows ever the last time the Bears were in the Super Bowl back in 2007.
If the Bears are landing the football equivalent to Prince in this draft, they’re about to go on the greatest run in franchise history. One thing is for sure: people can’t stop being weird about Williams. Hopefully this will change during his pro career, but don’t count on it.
