O’Donnell: Can’t Caleb Williams and advisers do better than old-mill ‘Iceman’?

IT'S FASCINATING TO HEAR ABOUT all of the endorsement deals Caleb Williams has been building upon since winning a Heisman Trophy at USC in 2022.

But like the Loch Ness Monster and victory in Iran, they tend to be things you hear more about than actually see.

Quick: Name one product featuring the young Bears quarterback that's currently in significant commercial rotation on any sort of national programming?

Answer: Good luck.

THAT'S WHY IT WAS CURIOUS this week when the San Antonio Express-News popped the story that Williams and former NBA scoring machine George Gervin may be going to war over trademark rights for ownership of the brand name “Iceman.”

Gervin was known by that cool tag — or the shorthand “Ice” — ever since his nights of ascension as a finger-rolling San Antonio Spur back in the 1970s.

HE AND THE NICKNAME WERE so frozen together than no less than Nike put out a memorable poster of Gervin sitting atop two blocks of ice as part of a low-budget ad campaign back in 1979.

But Gervin — now age 73 — never filed proper paperwork to own the moniker. Management at his Gervin Global Management is now claiming that “a business associate died” before rights could be secured.

And the dog ate his sneakers.

FURTHER COMPLICATING THE WILLIAMS INITIATIVE is that UFC legend Chuck Liddell did legally claim “Chuck 'The Iceman' Liddell” in 2023.

And, as any deep pop cultural historian can tell you, the real first “Iceman” was the late Chicago-spawned soul man Jerry Butler.

He sang his way out of the Cabrini-Green housing project alongside close chum Curtis “Superfly” Mayfield with such smooth standards as “For Your Precious Love” and “Only The Strong Survive.”

ALL OF THAT SAID, Caleb Williams may still wind up with a slice of “Ice.”

But a bigger question is:

For a compelling, grab-you-by-the-swipe-card 21st century sports brand to light up the endorsement heavens, the Bears' QB-18 couldn't find a more imaginative band of idea men to work with?

“Iceman?”

That's it?

Geez, why not “Fab One” or “Air Caleb?”

APPARENTLY EVEN THE MOST FASHIONABLY ELECTRIC of new-now American sports stars has some thought-challenged hod carriers around him.

Williams should be shooting for the stars, bending the moon, crafting a brand name that suggests breathtaking freshness, singularity and the recurring capture of excellence.

Then, of course, to make it all work he has to continue to go out and perform dazzling feats to maintain credibility.

Even for the Chicago Bears.

FOR GOAL POSTS, Williams and inner circle must note that the most successful individual brand in the history of global sports marketing has been “Air Jordan.”

And to hear David Falk — No. 23's longtime agent — tell the story, there was both derivation and more than casual serendipity in the seed of that landmark imaging genius.

“When we were finishing the deal between Michael and Nike in 1984, all involved wanted a distinctive brand name,” Falk once recalled in an interview. “'Jordan' as a stand-alone wasn't acceptable because of a popular jeans brand. Two years before, James Worthy signed a $1.2 million deal with New Balance for a shoe that was to be called 'Air Force.'

“For a number of reasons, that name didn't work as planned. So my suggestion to Michael and Phil Knight simply became 'Air Jordan.'”

FIAT LUX (Genesis 1:3) — “Let there be light” … and billions of dollars in subsequent product revenue spinning out of the churn.

Williams needs to skip any legal pursuit of “Iceman” and instead direct resources to something more potent and new.

AS FOR GERVIN, after his superstar run in San Antonio, he spent his final season in the NBA (1985-86) with the Bulls.

His value greatly increased when Jordan — in his second pro campaign — broke a foot in the season's third game at Golden State.

FOR THE NEXT FOUR MONTHS, “Ice” was an offensive mainstay for Stan Albeck's team. Still “an unbelievably effortless scorer,” according to Dave Corzine, who'd also played with Gervin on the Spurs.

The Bulls just didn't win very much without young Michael.

But when Jordan battled the Jerrys — Reinsdorf and Krause — to return to action in mid-March, an unhappy Gervin was relegated to fewer and fewer minutes.

SOMEHOW, THE ENSEMBLE SNAGGED the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

That earned them the right to play the Boston Celtics, the title-bound No. 1 seed and a mere 40-1 at home in the regular season.

Jordan scored 49 points in a Game 1 loss at Boston Garden on a Thursday night to open the best-of-five.

Sunday afternoon, in Game 2, he pushed his legend to the top of the national sports marquee with a mythic 63 points in a double-OT loss.

TWO NIGHTS LATER, back at Chicago Stadium, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and all closed out the sweep.

The “Iceman” stayed home that night with “the flu.”

In that gloamin', his brand rights probably could have been had for a handful of old-mill cubes.

Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.