As expected, the Chicago Bears have selected USC football star Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. With the selection of Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy Award winner will be the face of the franchise as they look to get back to playing winning football.

Williams spoke about what convinced him that the Bears were the team for him, per Courtney Cronin of ESPN:

“Caleb Williams on what he gleaned from the Bears in his top 30 visit: ‘The biggest thing is that they want to win. That was the biggest and most important thing. That was really it. That’s really what it came down to. That aligns with me. I want to be around people who want to win.’”

Williams also spoke about dealing with the pressure of being the new face of the Bears franchise. His answer was full of confidence:

Said Williams, “I don’t think of it that way. That may be the narrative. For me, I go out there, I handle my job, I be a great teammate first and foremost. I handle business on and off the field. And then, I go to work. I enjoy what I do, I love what I do. I’m in there with my guys and they see how hard I work – their guy, their QB – and we go get it. We win games together, and that’s the biggest thing – winning games together. Because I can’t win games by myself.”

With the addition of Williams as their new franchise quarterback, there is now legitimate reason to believe that brighter days may be ahead in The Windy City. In fact, a whole bunch of winning seasons may be ahead, and potentially even the franchise’s first Super Bowl title since the ’85 Bears may indeed be ahead.

Caleb Williams, USC football star to Bears QB

Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams (13) runs the ball during the second overtime against the Arizona Wildcats at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

This year, USC appeared to be the epicenter of college sports with top NFL Draft pick Williams, standout guard Bronny James, and women’s hoops superstar JuJu Watkins all on the same campus in Southern California.

Williams recently spoke about what it was like to share the campus with the two other superstar athletes.

“It’s cool, it’s cool, it really is, just because a big reason on why I came to USC is for that reason, it’s not to be with them, it’s because there’s people like that on campus. You know when you go to Alabama, and Kudos to them, but when you go to Alabama, when you go to Oklahoma, when you go to schools like that, they’re small towns and then you don’t get to go to a restaurant. I mean I would go to restaurants in Oklahoma, and it’s cool I’m always nice, polite, respective, but everybody, when you know you just want to throw on some sweats and go to a restaurant and stuff like that, you just want to throw on some sweats and go to a restaurant.”

Now Williams, and all of his star power, heads to Chicago to hopefully lead the Bears into a new era.