DETROIT — Caleb Williams is making no little plans.
Before the Bears drafted the USC quarterback No. 1 overall Thursday night, he made sure his new franchise could say the same.
“My last goal is immortality,” Williams said two hours after the Bears made him their first-ever No. 1 overall pick at quarterback. “The only way to reach that is winning championships. That’s big for me, and something that is the reason I play the game.”
All offseason, Williams was studying the Bears just as intently as they were examining him.
When Williams met with the team’s coaches — at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, at USC’s pro day in March and at Halas Hall this month — they proved to him they were serious about winning. By the time his visit to Lake Forest ended April 3, he was in.
“The history since I’ve been alive hasn’t been necessarily where [the Bears] are winning big games and Super Bowls and things like that,” Williams said. “I went into it with an open mindset. When I got there and got around everybody — players, coaches, executive staff — I fell in love with it.
“I enjoyed it. I was comfortable. When I left there, I hopped on a call and said, ‘I’m OK being here. This is going to be all right. We’re going to do it, and we’re going to have fun doing it.’ ’’
The Bears had been locked in on the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner for months. He was the only passer invited to visit Halas Hall during the predraft process. Likewise, Williams didn’t visit any other team’s facility.
When NFL commissioner Roger Goodell called Williams’ name, he revealed the worst-kept secret in recent draft history and launched what the Bears hope will be the dawn of a new era.
Ladies and gentlemen... 1️⃣8️⃣
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) April 26, 2024
The Bears’ list of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks features one player: Jim McMahon. Williams knows that — as well as the fact that they’re the only team in the NFL to never have a quarterback throw for 4,000 yards in a season.
He wasn’t afraid to ask why.
“You look into it, and you wonder why,” he said. “I asked questions, obviously. I have no shame in asking questions. . . . They told me and my dad the truth about why and what and where. And how it’s going to change.”
The Bears told them they haven’t always put their quarterbacks in the best position to succeed. Williams believes the Bears have done that, rattling off everything from the proposed new stadium and a restructured executive structure to the Bears’ new offensive coaches and players.
In the last two months, general manager Ryan Poles traded for six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen and center Ryan Bates and signed Pro Bowl running back D’Andre Swift and tight end Gerald Everett. With the ninth pick, he drafted Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze, who led FBS in receiving yards last year, to form perhaps the most explosive receiver room in franchise history.
Williams will have powerful weapons on Day 1 — a luxury not afforded Justin Fields or Mitch Trubisky, first-round flops of the last eight years.
The pairing with the Bears was so obvious that Williams held a throwing session last week in Los Angeles with Allen and fellow Bears wide receiver DJ Moore. The trio invited Odunze to the throwing session, a preview of what was to come.
Odunze believes the Bears are ready to win.
“You can feel it in the air over there,” Odunze said. “The top-shelf elite people they have in the organization, the facilities they have and the people in the community.”
Let's get it, @RomeOdunze! pic.twitter.com/LDTJcrBCSR
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) April 26, 2024
To land Odunze, the Bears benefitted from a head-scratching choice. The Falcons drafted Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 despite giving former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins a four-year, $180 million contract last month. The NFL has been investigating whether the Falcons tampered before signing Cousins as a free agent last month.
Six quarterbacks were taken with the first 12 picks: Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels (Commanders, second), North Carolina’s Drake Maye (Patriots, third), Penix, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy (Vikings, 10th) and Oregon’s Bo Nix (Broncos, 12th).
Williams, though, is the face of the quarterback class. He arrived ready for his close-up, wearing a custom-made Chrome Hearts navy suit with a zipper down the front right side. The silver crosses over his heart matched the ones on his girlfriend’s silver dress — and Williams’ two painted pinkie fingernails.
“I have prepared mentally for this moment, to go No. 1,” Williams said while walking the red carpet. “It’s on my phone screen. It’s on my mind quite often. So to now be in this moment, I prepared for it. I’m happy. I’m excited. But I’m also ready.”
Allen will keep the number he wore with the Chargers — the same No. 13 that Williams wore in his two seasons with the Trojans. The rookie will wear No. 18, his high school number.
“I won a championship in it,” he said.
On this night, though, the only number that mattered was No. 1.
When Williams took the stage, he let out a roar. It was fitting, he admitted, given the name of his new franchise.
“Letting out the pure emotion by myself,” he said. “Just letting it go.”
Williams will be asked to carry a franchise notorious for its quarterback struggles. He’s walking in with his eyes open.
“That may be the narrative,” he said. “For me, I handle my job.
“That’s the biggest thing — winning games together because I can’t win a game by himself. Keenan Allen can’t win a game by himself. Making sure that we’re all together . . . and we go get it.”
Bears fans, he said, should be ready.
“I believe the culture that’s been building,” he said. “Then I’d also say the love and support that the fans have been giving. They’re ready; they’re hungry; they’re all excited.
“And so are we.”
