An inside look at the Bears’ NFL Combine meeting with Caleb Williams originally appeared in NBC Sports Chicago
At the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in early March, both Caleb Williams and Roma Odunze met with the Bears briefly as part of the process.
In the most recent episode of “1920 Football Drive,” they participated in these meetings, allowing viewers to hear their conversations with the players. Williams, obviously, was the most anticipated conversation of the two.
Viewers can see that Williams made a point of greeting everyone in the room before sitting down for the discussion. He walked around, shook hands, made eye contact and promptly introduced himself.
Here are some questions and answers the Bears had with Williams.
Bears: How would you describe your leadership style? And how would teammates describe you as a person and a player?
Williams: “I think one of the biggest things I would say in terms of leadership is that I care about everyone in the locker room. I would say that, and so I think I’m a fierce competitor. I hate losing. And so, I think the guys can feel So, when I talk about training, if I talk to them, how I play, how I work out, I think these are the two main ones for me.
Bears: Who is your hero and why?
Williams “My dad. He taught me a lot. My dad and my mom. And so, you know, that’s the most important thing to me. And I didn’t realize until I was older that they hadn’t missed a game since I started playing playing at four years old and so it’s, you know, really sick to be able to brag about it.
The meeting was a vital part of the Bears’ process to decide whether or not to commit to Williams as their next quarterback. They didn’t show it, but the Bears also grilled Williams with plays from their new playbook, asking him to repeat them after answering interview questions. He nailed it.
The process was fundamental for GM Ryan Poles. He and the Bears covet personality and character traits. Getting to know him and what is important to him was an important box for the Poles to check.
“Just having that face-to-face interaction and knowing what’s important to him, what motivates him, what his goals are, how he treats his teammates, his work ethic,” Poles said. “As soon as I started to feel the person, this conviction started to emerge soon after.”
