One thing you should always try to do when covering professional sports is not insert Old Man Syndrome into it. The athletes of previous decades are not the athletes of today. Circumstances are always changing from year to year. How players today conduct themselves is often in response to the current climate. Older players applying their logic from years past is not a great way to make a point. Yet that is exactly what former MVP quarterback Boomer Esiason did on the topic of Caleb Williams.
Everyone has likely heard about the ESPN report by now. If you haven’t, Seth Wickersham revealed that Williams and his father explored every possible avenue to avoid getting drafted by the Chicago Bears last year. Their options included playing in the United Football League for a year or demanding Williams’ rights be traded to another team, similar to what John Elway and Eli Manning did in 1983 and 2004, respectively. Esiason didn’t take kindly to that report, calling Williams entitled and blaming him for the Bears’ problems last season.
Esiason is in no place to criticize Caleb Williams.
People often forget that he earned a reputation during his playing days for being rebellious and having a loud mouth. He routinely butted heads with head coach Sam Wyche. This reaction shouldn’t be a surprise. Esiason has always come across as a company man. He was against the NFL strike in 1987 because he was worried it would hurt his earning potential.
Meanwhile, he never had much to say about quarterbacks who avoided the league at that time because they didn’t want to play for certain teams. John Elway held out until the Colts traded his rights to Denver. Jim Kelly and Steve Young went to play in the USFL.
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The fact is, Caleb Williams’ feelings were justified. He knew the current Bears coaching staff was bad news and what it could mean for his career. The fact both the head coach and offensive coordinator were fired before the season was even over proved it. Esiason’s rant merely proved he hasn’t paid much attention to the situation at all. He read the story, made assumptions on incomplete information, and fired off his take. Lazy stuff.
