If you like to bask in the embarrassment of the Detroit Lions' NFC North rivals, you're going to love this one.
According to ESPN's Seth Wickersham, Carl Williams, the father of quarterback Caleb Williams, revealed that neither he, nor his son, wanted the USC product playing for the Chicago Bears ahead of the 2024 NFL draft.
"Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die," Carl Williams told Wickersham in the upcoming book, American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback, which is scheduled to be released in September.
Wickersham also reveals in the book that Caleb's father sought out advice from Archie Manning, who was able to guide his son, Eli, to the New York Giants instead of the then-San Diego Chargers after a trade during the 2004 draft.
On top of that, Williams spoke with labor lawyers and agents, and even considered having his son play in the United Football League, all with the goal of avoiding ending up with the Bears.
"I don't want my son playing for the Bears," Williams told agents, while also noting in the book that the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement is the "worst piece of s--- I've ever read. It's the worst in sports history."
As if all that wasn't enough, Caleb apparently hit it off so well with the Minnesota Vikings that it was his goal to end up there instead.
"I need to go to the Vikings," Williams told his dad.
However, Bears general manager Ryan Poles would not budge and informed Williams that Chicago would draft him anyway.
"We're drafting you no matter what," Poles told Williams and his dad.
Ultimately, Williams changed his mind and began to be optimistic about his ability to change the fortunes of a franchise that has been inept at finding quarterbacks after a pre-draft visit in Chicago.
"I can do it for this team," Caleb told his father. "I'm going to go to the Bears."
But, as we all know, things didn't go well in his first season in Chicago, which might have left Williams second-guessing his optimism.
The Bears were a dysfunctional mess thanks to head coach Matt Eberflus, who was eventually canned. The book also details how Williams would watch film on his own "with no instruction or guidance from the coaches."
"No one tells me what to watch," Caleb said. "I just turn it on."
Now, former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson will look to change the fortunes of both the Bears and Williams, something that will be a tall task.
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