Caleb Williams has dealt with outside criticism for years.
It started when he emerged as a five-star high school recruit, continued through his Heisman Trophy season, and followed him after becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
So after all these years, the constant noise no longer appears to distract the Chicago Bears quarterback.
Caleb Williams Has Unique Way of Dealing With Criticism
This week, the Bears’ signal-caller appeared on “Pardon My Take” with Dan Katz (Big Cat) and Eric Sollenberger (PFT Commenter), where he opened up about how he handles critics.
Williams said that any players who claim not to hear the criticism and hate are “liars,” and he acknowledged that some announcers and analysts seem to judge him differently, even after he made a major leap forward and delivered late-game heroics for the Bears.
“I’m not going to say any names on the air, but there are times where I go back and I listen (to broadcasts),” Williams said.
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Williams revealed the unusual way he responds when he later crosses paths with those voices.
“Yeah, there’s reporters and analysts, or whatever you want to call them, that I remember,” he said. “Sometimes I shake their hand a little bit harder when I see them in person.”
Cowboys legend Troy Aikman is likely one of those analysts.
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During a Week 6 “Monday Night Football” matchup last season, Chicago got a dramatic 25-24 victory over the Washington Commanders. In that game, Aikman, now an ESPN analyst, was highly critical in his commentary.
Soon after, fans started calling out Aikman on social media. Even Bears head coach Ben Johnson also acknowledged that he noticed the broadcast’s tone.
However, Aikman later addressed the criticism during an interview with Front Office Sports.
While he admitted there had been moments over his long broadcasting career that he wished he had handled differently, he did not believe the Bears game fit that category.
“That game was not one of those,” he said. “I walked out of that game feeling like ‘O.K., it was a game that came down to the wire.’ It’s fun, whatever… All of a sudden, Ben Johnson comes up, and it’s got Troy Aikman written on there. And I’m like, ‘What is this?’ first time I heard about it.”
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Aikman also questioned where the backlash originated and challenged viewers to revisit the telecast.
“I’m not sure exactly where that came from,” Aikman continued. “I didn’t go back and watch the broadcast, but I would challenge anyone to go watch it and tell me that any analysis that I gave was unfair. They may disagree if I thought that was maybe not great ball placement, and they thought it was okay, but I’m not sure where it came from.”
Despite all this chatter, Williams finished last season with a passer rating of 90.1 and totaled 3,942 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions in 17 games.
As a result, PFN’s Offense Impact metrics ranked Chicago’s offense 12th in the NFL.
Whether Aikman crossed the line remains open for debate. Still, Williams has already shown he prefers to remember the criticism, use it as motivation, and move forward on his own terms.
