Caleb Williams hasn’t played in his first official NFL game yet, but he’s already taking on a leadership role with the Chicago Bears.
That much was evident in an interview that Bears safety Kevin Byard did with 670 The Score, in which he revealed the No. 1 pick of the 2024 NFL Draft recently urged his teammates to take better care of their surroundings during training camp.
“We all want to talk about his abilities and things like that. I think it’s the intangibles,” Byard said of Williams. “I’ll give you a great example. This was literally just yesterday, last night. We did our walkthrough. We finished the walkthrough. Coach, he’s talking. Players usually break it down, it’s usually a veteran who breaks it down. Caleb wanted to jump into the middle to break it down. And usually as a rookie it’s like, ‘Oh what’s this guy got to say?’
“First thing he said was, ‘We’re all grown men here, right? As we’re going through training camp, we all use the hot tub, we all use the cold tub, we all use the bathroom and all the areas. We’re getting a little too sloppy. We’re leaving water bottles and towels and all type of things around. These custodians have a lot of square footage they have to cover with this whole building. Let’s try to help them out by cleaning up after ourselves.’… little things like that makes the guy special.”
Caleb Williams asked his Bears teammates to clean up after themselves better in the locker room because he thought they were leaving too many bottles and towels for custodians and staffers to pick up, Kevin Byard says.
Listen to Byard on @mullyhaugh: https://t.co/4AJk8BWskP pic.twitter.com/aYVhdyyXOK
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) July 30, 2024
Byard’s story provides some interesting insight into how the 22-year-old appears to be wise beyond his years. Chicago is obviously hopeful that maturity will translate into success on the field as the Bears look to finally lay claim to the franchise quarterback that has eluded them for decades now.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.