Caleb Williams knew early on that he had the talent to play quarterback. That was obvious in Pop Warner and then high school. He also had the work ethic to learn the position and craft his body into the necessary shape. However, as he ascended up the ladder, it became clear there was much more to playing quarterback than knowing where and how to throw a football. Williams had aspirations for greatness. Plenty of quarterbacks came and went in the NFL with great arms but accomplished nothing. He needed to find out what made the great ones different.
That brought him to a specific moment after his freshman year of college. He was watching videos of the Los Angeles Rams’ recent Super Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. NFL Films had quarterback Matthew Stafford mic’d for the game. Williams watched the former Pro Bowler interact with his teammates before and after the action. He realized being a leader wasn’t just about getting ten other guys to do what you say. It’s about getting them to believe in you and for you to believe in them.
When he arrived at USC for his second year of college, he completely revamped his leadership style. It had an immediate effect on the entire program. The Trojans went from 4-8 the previous year to 11-3. Williams won the Heisman trophy. As he prepared for the draft this past winter, teammates were bombarded with questions by the Bears about the young quarterback as a person and leader. They all, to a man, adored Williams. He was a treasured locker room presence who supported everybody. There wasn’t a bad thing to say about him. Those comments were what sealed it for Ryan Poles.
Stafford is probably the most underappreciated quarterback of his generation. He was terrific for the Detroit Lions for over a decade. Sadly, he was trapped on mostly bad or mediocre teams. When he finally landed on a good one in Los Angeles, he immediately won a ring. You knew how much people loved him from the zero bad things Detroit had to say when the trade went down. It seems like Caleb Williams is similar in that regard. If he can produce on the field, it won’t take long for the entire organization to follow his lead.
