Well-known pundit Clay Travis had a warning for Caleb Williams ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft when he compared the expected future Chicago Bears quarterback’s off-the-field antics to former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick
Caleb Williams went viral for a pink phone case
Williams went viral last week for his appearance during a USC women’s basketball game. Williams was using a pink phone case; some suspected he was wearing pink lipgloss and pink fingernail polish. Several NFL players have made derogatory statements about men painting their nails.
The 2022 Heisman winner is known for wearing fingernail polish and coming across as cocky in interviews. Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson is worried that Williams will try to act “Hollywood” when he joins the Bears.
Williams’ off-the-field distractions compared to Colin Kaepernick’s
The 22-year-old hasn’t played a snap in the league, and people are rushing to judgment about his character. Travis thinks Williams has brought negative publicity on himself and believes the quarterback will have to impress football fans as a rookie, or else he could face severe backlash:
“Let’s say things don’t go well. If [Williams] comes out and he plays phenomenal, as long as he stays roughly out of trouble, the NFL makes huge excuses for him,” Travis said.
However, if things don’t go well, Travis thinks he could be headed for the same trajectory as Kaepernick.
“I’ve always said if Colin Kaepernick had been an incredible quarterback, he could do whatever he wanted off the field,” Travis said. “The NFL would have made excuses for him. He could have protested anything.”
Will Caleb Williams be too much of a headache for his future NFL team?@ClayTravis pic.twitter.com/ClNoviRRYQ
— OutKick (@Outkick) March 31, 2024
Travis went as far as to say Aaron Rodgers could have taken a knee to protest US brutality towards ISIS, and the league wouldn’t have kicked him out because of his talent.
The Chicago Bears need Williams to win
It feels a little odd to compare Rodgers’ hypothetical or Kaepernick’s situation to Williams’. Williams is a flashy quarterback who is confident in his own style, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
While it is true Williams will need to back up his attitude on the field; he would have needed to win in the NFL if he hadn’t painted his nails. He didn’t come into the league to be a mediocre quarterback.
More importantly, pink fingernails are not equivalent to protesting police brutality.
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