Caleb Williams and the Bears have been the darlings of the NFL offseason. The No. 1 overall pick has embraced every aspect of being Chicago's franchise quarterback, acknowledging the hype surrounding the team while staying grounded and being true to himself.
Williams' arrival has made the Bears the biggest talking point of the NFL offseason. From the painted fingernails to "Hard Knocks" summer arrival at Halas Hall, Williams and the Bears will be talking point 1A or 1B in the lead-up to their Week 1 season-opening tilt against the Tennessee Titans, where star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons hopes to give the rookie QB his "Welcome to the NFL" moment complete with some trash talk.
"Painted nails. I can't wait to say that to him," Simmons told Rich Eisen on "The Rich Eisen Show." "Most definitely. Oh, it's gonna be one of them games. I mean, he probably gets smack-talked by his teammates right now, but especially a game like that. ... It's gonna be the first game of the season. They've got us coming to Chicago. All the hype's gonna be around them, of course. I think when special, even prime-time games … everybody just counts Tennessee out, which we all know. A game like Chicago, I'm sure [they're] thinking we 'bout to get beat bad. That also makes me even talk more smack and boosts me up a little more, get into a different mode, as well. I'll be in a different mode that game.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"I get it. You've got a first-round pick like Caleb Williams, which is a great player. Watching a couple games when he was at USC, he's a hell of a player. But it's a different league, and I'm excited to play him the first game."
CHICAGO BEARS
Williams started painting his nails a few years ago. Williams' mother is a manicurist who used to paint his and his father's nails with a clear coat growing up. Williams decided to build on that a few years ago.
He knows that the painted nails and other aspects of his personality will be a talking point.
That doesn't bother him, and he doesn't plan to change.
"I would say, just do my job," Williams said during his introductory press conference at Halas Hall. "Don’t focus on all of that. I’m always going to have scrutiny. I do things like paint my nails. I’m always going to have scrutiny over that. I wear funky clothes, things like that. So you know. Just do my job on the football field and win games. I think if you win a bunch of games here, you’ll make a lot of people, the majority, happy."
Williams' authenticity is one of the many things that quickly endeared him to general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus during the pre-draft process. It has also resonated with his teammates during the early portion of his tenure.
"I’ve said it before: you can really tell he’s comfortable in his own skin and he is who he is," Eberflus said of Williams during OTAs. "His personality starts. His light comes out from the inside. You can certainly feel that energy. He’s a 1-plus-1-equals-3 guy. He’s an enhancer. He’s a guy that brings out the best in people. You can certainly feel that in him within five minutes of meeting him."
Simmons very well could give Williams his first real introduction to the NFL. However, the ensuing trash talk is unlikely to do anything but draw a smile from Williams, who will never apologize for being true to himself.