Mike Singletary has been around the game of football for a long time, first as a Hall of Fame player and then as a well-traveled coach. He’s gone against some of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, and watched even more of them. This is a man who played against Joe Montana and John Elway, then coached against Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. So he has a pretty good idea of what the best ones look like. From his perspective, there is no debate who owns the crown in today’s NFL. That is Patrick Mahomes.
During an interview with Kay Adams on Up And Adams, he was asked who the best is. It was half-wondered whether he might say Caleb Williams, considering Singletary is a Chicago Bears legend. He didn’t, but did make sure to point out that Williams is more like Mahomes than people think.
“Hands down, I’m going to take Patrick Mahomes every day of the week. But Caleb Williams is in that mix.
Why Patrick? Because Patrick is a leader. I see a lot in the young kid in Chicago, I see a lot of Patrick Mahomes in him. He may not want to hear that, but that’s OK. I like that, too.”
If they’re so alike, what separates the two that makes Mahomes the superior player? It isn’t arm strength, accuracy, or intelligence. For Singletary, it has everything to do with charisma.
“When Patrick gets in the huddle, they listen. When things are down, they listen. When he’s speaking to a player on the sideline, when he’s talking to a guy in the huddle, they’re listening. To me, that’s respect.”
Mike Singletary should take note of last season.
Everybody wants to talk about the physical feats from last season. There were many. Williams had some of the most absurd throws you’ll ever see by an NFL quarterback, and all of them came late in games when the Bears were trailing. Seven 4th quarter comebacks don’t happen if your quarterback doesn’t have the ability to communicate with his guys in the huddle. Teammates repeatedly said last year that Williams was the reason they were able to stay calm in crunch time and continued executing. That is the leadership Singletary mentions.
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There was evidence that he’d grown more vocal with teammates as the season went on as well. The one that stood out the most came in the playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. Wide receiver Luther Burden seemed to run the wrong route on a 4th down play, leading to Williams throwing an interception. Once the quarterback got back to the sideline, he turned to Burden and screamed at him to do his job. It was a moment where a leader must hold his teammate accountable for a mistake. That was not something Williams could let slide, not in a game with that high of stakes. Mike Singletary would’ve done the same thing.
Williams understands his role.
That is one thing you can say definitively about the Bears’ quarterback. He’s never shrunken from the pressure or responsibility that comes with being a franchise quarterback. It demands sacrifices. That means putting in tons of work to master an offense while also serving as a team leader. There is a reason only a handful of guys can play the position at a high level. Jay Cutler had the talent to excel in the NFL. He never fully accepted the role of leadership, preferring to run with his select group of teammates. It was a big reason why the Bears eventually fell apart in the mid-2010s.
Singletary will probably see more of his old teammate, Jim McMahon, in Williams. Playing styles aside, the former Bears quarterback was known for his ferocious competitiveness, toughness, charisma, and unwavering self-confidence. All you have to do is watch and listen to Williams for ten minutes, and you’ll get the same vibes. If you pair McMahon’s leadership with Mahomes’ talent, you may have something special on your hands. He may not have all the achievements Patrick does yet, but all the pieces are there.
