The NFL’s first Monday Night Football game of the 2025 season will have even juicier storylines than expected.
ESPN released details from journalist Seth Wickersham’s new book — “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback” — on Thursday, revealing that Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and his family weighed circumventing the 2024 NFL Draft to avoid being selected by Chicago with the No. 1 overall pick.
Williams’ dream solution? Landing with Kevin O’Connell and the Minnesota Vikings.
Per excerpts from Wickersham’s book, Williams “began to dream of what it would be like to play for Minnesota” after hitting it off with O’Connell at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine:
“I need to go to the Vikings,” he told his father.
"Let's do it," his father replied. But both Caleb and Carl knew that a trade to a divisional rival was extremely unlikely.
Bears GM Ryan Poles stood firm, telling Williams, "We're drafting you no matter what."
Williams, of course, wound up landing with Chicago as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and has since fully embraced the city. The Vikings later traded up one spot, from pick No. 11 to No. 10, to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who’s expected to lead the Vikings into Soldier Field to face Williams and the Bears in Week 1 of the 2025 regular season, on Monday Night Football.
Among the spicier excerpts in ESPN's report was Caleb's father, Carl, telling Wickersham: "Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die." The family was especially concerned about then-Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who wound up getting fired midway through the 2024 season.
Williams would hardly be the first young quarterback prospect to hit it off with O'Connell, the reigning NFL Coach of the Year who's universally respected throughout the NFL.
In November of 2024, cameras caught O’Connell finding Willams after Minnesota's wild, 30-27 overtime win over the Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium. O'Connell was careful not to let anyone record his message to Williams, but the then-rookie shared a glimpse of what was said during his postgame presser.
“I have a few (former) teammates that are over there that talk about him,” Williams said of O'Connell, “and they love him. … He’s been a great coach so far, I believe … and those encouraging words are important.”
This is what #Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell told #Bears rookie Caleb Williams at the end of the game... pic.twitter.com/sOShTjqdJr
— Barroom Net | Aldo Gandia (@BarroomNetwork) November 24, 2024
Those words may have carried even more meaning than Williams let on at the time.
