Caleb Williams’ appearance at the USC women’s basketball team’s NCAA Tournament game on Monday night caused quite the stir among football fans.
After all, it’s one thing to paint your nails to send a message to a rival on the field. But it’s another — apparently — to also wear lipstick and have the audacity to be holding a pink cellphone.
Caleb Williams watching USC – Kansas pic.twitter.com/9dVzyp7d7B
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) March 26, 2024
As such, the response to Williams’ appearance included no shortage of backlash, most of which consisted of thinly-veiled homophobia. On Thursday’s episode of Good Morning Football, Kyle Brandt issued a response to the response, turning in a vintage rant while defending the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft from the criticism he has received from what he referred to as “caveman Twitter.”
Thoughts on Caleb Williams… pic.twitter.com/mOXFN5qek1
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) March 28, 2024
Some of the highlights:
“Take No. 1, I’ve seen this: ‘That’s not a leader of me!’ You are a follower of sheep, let me say that,” Brandt said. “The most important qualities in a leader are being confident, being secure with yourselves, being bold and having everyone you’re leading want to follow you. Find any teammate Caleb has had across two major programs say one bad thing about Caleb, let alone that he’s weird or eccentric.
“Next take, I love this one: ‘That’s not going to work in the locker room,'” he continued. “Those are the words of the most basic bad radio caller to a terrible radio show in 1992. ‘That’s not going to work in the locker room?’ What the hell do you know? Do you know D.J. Moore? Do you know Cole Kmet? Do you know Darnell Wright? Do you know that the personalities and perspectives in this league have evolved dramatically? Do you know the head coach of the 2024 Bear is not Bill Parcells? This is a different time.”
Brandt went on to dismiss the notion that Williams is “too Hollywood” for the NFL, noting that 22-year-olds in Los Angeles make plenty of bold fashion choices, including his own previous infatuation with Affliction brand t-shirts and True Religion jeans. He also fired back at criticism that Williams’ personality won’t fit with the “macho” city of Chicago, which famously embraced a dress-wearing power forward named Dennis Rodman.
“Maybe Caleb’s personality is a little unusual. You know what would be incredibly unusual? A Bears quarterback that wins a game anybody cares about,” Brandt said. “Try to remember the last time you had a rock star quarterback, you won a Super Bowl.
“It’s good that this quarterback is different. Because what’s never different is the result every single time you’ve played the Packers. And I’ll tell you what’s weird: You know what’s the weirdest thing about Caleb? That he’s going to be a Bears quarterback who’s actually good… he’s going to be the No. 1 pick. And when the pride and joy of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, call him to let him know on draft night, I hope he takes the call on his pink phone.”
As Good Morning Football‘s time in New York City comes to an end, Brandt’s future with the show remains uncertain. But as his rant on Thursday showed, it would be tough to argue that the GMFB original is anything but at the top of his game.
