O’Donnell: Bears get a Ditka-class dig from the father of Caleb Williams
WAS IT BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WHO FIRST WROTE: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death, taxes and annual hikes in Bears season-ticket prices?”
Maybe, probably not.
(For connoisseurs of high-rise seat stakes, just wait until there are NFL footballs spiraling through the fresh Bear air over Arlington Park.)
But in the honor roll of all-time quotes about the implosive ways of the McBurrowers, Carl Williams — the father of light-stepping young QB Caleb Williams — passed toward the very top of the hits list this week.
WITH A LINE THAT WAS RECEIVING global attention within hours of being released, Williams told author Seth Wickersham, “Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die.”
Anyone want to argue the other side?
Williams' statement was so good, so succinct, so cutting, that the only other statement in the history of the franchise that comes close was Mike Ditka's classic about Papa Tightwad George Halas.
And even then, it's a photo finish.
After a predictably contentious contract negotiation in 1965, Ditka — with wit and chinstrap on — said, “He tosses nickels around like manhole covers.”
THE TIMING OF THE RELEASE of the new Williams masterpiece was curious.
Wickersham, 46, has been writing for ESPN since graduating from the widely respected journalism school at the University of Missouri in 2000.
He is in the nip-and-tuck phase of a book titled, “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback.”
Release date is Sept. 9. Publisher is Hyperion Avenue, a division of Disney Publishing Worldwide. That means all is staying within The Mouse/ESPN/ABC family.
But why release a promotional gem like that of Carl Williams more than three months in advance of the public being able to buy “American Kings?”
A publicist for Wickersham's publicist had no answer.
But the deadpan shall live on for a long, long time.
THE FULL CONTEXT OF THE QUOTE has to do with efforts of Williams the father and associates to somehow maneuver their main QB away from being acquired by Ryan Poles and Co. in the 2024 NFL draft.
Make no mistake: Carl Williams is very much a stage-door NFL father. He looks at his telegenic, keenly skilled son and isn't merely thinking Patrick Mahomes money. He's thinking Michael Jordan money — endorsements royalties crossing decades, universal acclaim even after the final whistle and all.
That means championships, consistently Louvre-level artfulness and a sophisticated, crisply proactive imaging machine pushing a uniquely stellar package.
But with the Chicago Bears? Playing quarterback?
Tim Walz would have an easier time trying to fill Beyonce-friendly mega-show venues.
PAPA CARL QUITE COMMENDABLY held his public tongue last season. That was the “Bear Ruin” campaign when his son helped lead a 4-2 start, was then frequently running for his life through a 10-game losing streak and gallantly made his 17th start of the regular season in a participation-ribbon win at Green Bay.
To salt the private wounds of the Williams family, in their very own District of Columbia, rookie Jayden Daniels was proving to be the spindly Bada-Boom of The Beltway. He sparked the Commanders to a 12-5 regular season plus two more victories in the playoffs.
Daniels also breezed past the Bears' No. 18 for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.
THE FULL REALITY OF HALAS HALL remains that no matter how golden the lure may seem from afar, up close, all except the balance sheets of the McCaskey family and partners turns to splat.
Carl Williams didn't merely try to beat the Lake Forest posse; he quite creatively tried to get his son far away from it and to a launchpad where they can actually get things above conning tower level.
That in a place and culture where the only certain thing rising seems to be season-ticket prices.
STREET-BEATIN':
Insightful Bears backers rightfully feel cheated by the 2025 schedule. Ben Johnson and Co. have been given the slate of a high-profile team, which ain't no way to treat an outfit that was further out of it by December than a hula troupe playing the North Pole. Interesting note: The Lions, Vikings and Packers were all 4-0 vs. AFC South last year; the Bears finished 2-2, all during their misleading 4-2 start. …
Cade Horton's fragile start with the Cubs suggests that his addition isn't exactly going to be the second coming of Rick Sutcliffe in 1984. Settling reality for Craig Counsell and his vine-lining crew is that their current edition will go as far as their bats and guile take them. …
Vast difference in possibilities for next month's NBA Finals: One with Jalen Brunson and the Knicks and a much lesser one without. Cheapest tickets on the secondary market for Game 6 between NYK and Boston Friday night at Madison Square Garden hovered around $700. An Oklahoma City-New York pairing would be like a remake of “Green Acres.” …
On the mend: Larry Hamel, an All-Pro Swiss Army knife during a distinguished run with the Sun-Times sports department during the paper's last golden era. With harness racing among his many areas of expertise, Hamel was periodically asked along on private flights to the downstate Du Quoin State Fair by George Steinbrenner and sulky kingpin Billy Johnston. …
Also getting better is “Captain” Tom Morgan, one of the fabled jockey agents in the history of Arlington Park. Once a copy boy at the Detroit News, “The Captain” got his start at AP in 1977 under publicist Tom Rivera and was later said to be the only Chicago agent who slept with a thoroughbred-entry condition book under his pillow.
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.