The Chicago Bears are poised to draft Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Williams will follow an admittedly desolate trail blazed by Bears quarterbacks who haven’t lived up to expectations. For instance, no Bears quarterback has ever had a 30-touchdown season.
Though they say it every year, this should be a very different Chicago Bears team. Wide receiver D.J. Moore proved to be a bright spot on an otherwise downtrodden offense. The Bears recently traded for top-flight wide receiver Keenan Allen to upgrade their offense further. The touted Williams will enter into a good situation in the Windy City and Bears fans hope the Heisman winner is the one to change it all.
Not everyone is so bullish. ESPN’s Robert Griffin III, the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner and a former NFL quarterback, recently suggested that Williams should balk at going to the Bears.
Griffin’s comments made their way to the Bears organization.
Chicago general manager Ryan Poles appeared this week on The Pat McAfee Show and, after McAfee brought up Griffin, the Bears general manager expressed his displeasure.
“It pisses me off a little bit, to be honest with you,” Poles said. “Because we were hired to break a cycle. This same thing when I was in Kansas City. Coach Reid, all of us were brought there to break a cycle. And we did. No one talks about those days anymore, it’s all about what they are right now.
“I really believe we’re about to break this cycle and get this city in a really good situation and win a lot of games. So the past is the past. I don’t worry about that at all. It’s about where we’re going.”
Pat McAfee: "When RGIII comes out…"
Bears GM Ryan Poles: "Mm-hmm."
McAfee: "You heard him?"
*Poles nods*
Poles: "It pisses me off a little bit, to be honest with you, because we were hired to break a cycle…"pic.twitter.com/2sWpZzLGcz https://t.co/CrMi7s14rL
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 26, 2024
In fairness to Griffin, he’s not the only one who’s touted that theory. Williams isn’t the only person Griffin has recently suggested might “stay put,” either.
The issue with that theory doesn’t lie with Williams himself. It’s more the system in place and noting those major exceptions and why they were exceptions. When John Elway refused to play for the Baltimore Colts, he didn’t only do it because he felt they weren’t worth his time. The New York Yankees coveted Elway and, as the Elway to Marino 30 for 30 documentary revealed, George Steinbrenner wanted Elway to be the Yankees’ starting right fielder by the mid-80s. The eventual Hall of Famer flaunted that fact constantly (he had an abbreviated stint in Single-A Oneonta) before eventually going to the Denver Broncos.
When Griffin suggested Williams balk at the Bears, he said he should “pull an Eli Manning.” Eli, who ripped it at Ole Miss where he was a Heisman finalist in 2003, wouldn’t play for the then-San Diego Chargers, who held the top pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. The Manning family practically staged a coup and wouldn’t budge on not playing for the Chargers. That eventually led to the Chargers trading with the New York Giants, who picked Manning, while San Diego wound up with Philip Rivers.
Williams might be good, but suggesting that he should balk is just nonsensical. It falls apart when you consider that if Williams didn’t go to Chicago, then he’d go to… Washington? The Commanders? The same Commanders who ruined Griffin’s career? If we’ve decided that Chicago is a “loser franchise,” what does that make the Washington Commanders?
Poles had every right to defend himself and the Bears franchise. His comments weren’t out of bounds, and whatever you might say of the Bears, it’s clear they’re confident in their plan.
