John Elway knew what he wanted. And it definitely wasn’t Baltimore (Colts). The Colts had the No. 1 pick in the ’83 NFL draft. But let’s face it—their front office was kind of a mess, and head coach Frank Kush had a bit of a reputation—think drill sergeant energy, or let’s just say, harsh taskmaster. Elway made it clear he wouldn’t play for them. He even had other options at the table, too. The man was legit with the Yankees. So he let it be known: if the Colts drafted him, he’d just go play baseball instead.

But the Colts had no successful trade before the draft, and they had to draft Elway. And for a second, it looked like Elway would arrive in Baltimore. But he stood his ground. Didn’t budge. His dad backed him, too—Jack Elway straight-up told reporters, “Three times we’ve told Kush that John wouldn’t play with the Colts.” The result? The Colts traded Elway to the Broncos. Diabolical. And he went on to have a Hall of Fame career.

Fast forward, and imagine the same scenario now. Hard to imagine the waves it will create, right? Enter Caleb Williams, the Bears‘ first overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. ESPN’s Seth Wickersham is coming with his book, American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback, where he revealed that Caleb and his dad, Carl Williams, actively sought ways to… well, to avoid being drafted by Chicago. Why? Because of the Bears’ historical struggles with developing a franchise QB. And yeah, the team’s management as well.

To spice things up, Wickersham recently stopped by the Rich Eisen Show, where he shed light on the whole Bears-Williams saga. Wickersham believes that the only way that the father-son duo could avoid being drafted by the Bears was to pull a John Elway kind of move. “I think that it fell on them to say the only way that this might work is if we create an untenable situation, kind of like the Elway’s did with the city of Baltimore,” Wickersham noted.

See, the Bears’ general manager, Ryan Poles, made it clear that they were drafting Williams ahead of the 2024 NFL draft. And as per Wickersham, Carl and Caleb wanted to avoid the selection by using John Elway’s approach, you know, publicly expressing their disappointment to play for the Bears, or threatening to play a different sport, or the least—to avoid visiting the team’s facility. The catch?

Well, their situation was completely different than the Elways. On one side, John and Jack Elway publicly expressed their disappointment at playing for the Colts back in ’83. But on the flip side, Caleb and Carl Williams did everything to avoid the selection. But in small circles, and away from the public eye. As the NFL Insider confirmed, “I mean, they did everything with them, you know, within small circles, um, and, you know, some advisers, but it was mostly, you know, a pretty small circle of people that were debating these things.” 

As per Wickersham, the father-son duo spent a lot of time talking through every ‘what if’ and ‘maybe’ they could think of. Like “if we do try to force a trade by making this untenable, what if they still pick me anyway, and I have to deal with it,” Wickersham noted. But at the end of the day, these discussions didn’t even matter. Why?

See, after Caleb visited the Bears’ facility, the QB liked his teammates, was satisfied, and excited about where the Bears’ organization is heading. The result? Chicago picked him with the 1st overall, and Caleb Williams is now leading the offense, even though he had a terrible rookie season. Long story short: the Bears weren’t Williams’ favorite team initially. But let’s face it—at the end of the day, the guy had a change of mind.

And now, the new head coach, Ben Johnson, has hopes for his quarterback.

Ben Johnson thinks Caleb Williams has an opportunity

According to Seth Wickersham’s book, American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback, Carl Williams saw the Bears as a “Quarterback Graveyard.” And he wasn’t talking the talk. The Bears are yet to develop a franchise QB in their organization’s history. We’re talking about a QB who racked up over 4,000 passing yards in a single season. Yeah, no one did. And get this, the best QB the Bears have ever produced was Sid Luckman, who retired back in 1950.

Sure, they did pick some first-round QBs. But let’s be real—neither of ’em turned out to be a franchise QB. Enter Ben Johnson, the former offensive guru of Detroit who led the team’s offense to sky-high heights, who’s now the new head coach of the Bears. Johnson has one vision: he believes that Caleb has an opportunity and a chance to create history for the franchise.

“You talk about fears. I don’t see it quite the same way,” Johnson said last month, while discussing the ongoing feud. “I see this as what a great opportunity that we have to do something that’s never been done. There’s never been a 4,000-yard passer in this franchise, and I think Caleb’s going to be the first one. One of many years where he’s going to accomplish the feat. I see a chance for greatness here for him. He’s been communicative that way. He feels the same way.”

Williams’ rookie season was marked by the team’s instability, lack of support, and personal challenges that hindered the QB’s overall performance. By the time he wrapped up his season, the Bears were already down to 5-12. And yes, along the way, he created the franchise record, but not in a good category. The guy was sacked a record 68 times in his rookie season. Now that the Bears have hired Ben Johnson to lead, safe to say the QB would be gearing up to flip the script in his sophomore season.