Book-Caleb Williams sought way around going to Chicago Bears - ESPN

Quarterback Caleb Williams was so concerned about being picked by the Chicago Bears in 2024 that he and his family weighed blowing up the entire NFL draft, consulting with lawyers to figure out a way around the league's collective bargaining agreement while considering signing with the United Football League, details from a forthcoming book reveal.

«Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die,» Carl Williams, Caleb's father, told Seth Wickersham, author of «American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,» in the months before the 2024 draft.

Caleb Williams wondered aloud to confidants: «Do I want to go there? I don't think I can do it with [former Bears offensive coordinator Shane] Waldron.»

The forthcoming book, to be published in September, offers a detailed account of what it means to be a quarterback at various levels, from high school to college to the NFL, and what it's like for legends in retirement. It features unprecedented access with dozens of quarterbacks and generational greats such as John Elway, Johnny Unitas, Warren Moon, members of the Manning family and Steve Young, among others. It also includes current signal callers such Kirk Cousins and Drake Maye.

Additionally, there are new details inside the ruthless recruitment of Texas quarterback Arch Manning, and the youth quarterback circuit. It also chronicles the near-death car wreck in January, and subsequent full recovery, that involved LSU quarterback Colin Hurley. Wickersham is an ESPN reporter; his first book on the New England Patriots was a New York Times bestseller.

<a href=«https://www.espn.com/American» kings by seth wickersham: penguinrandomhouse.com: books target="_blank">

This story is based on reporting from ESPN senior writer Seth