How Caleb Williams' inner circle features Chicago star power - ESPN

Matas Buzelis started his postgame treatment the night of Jan. 10 shortly after the Chicago Bulls beat the Dallas Mavericks. Less than five miles away from the training room inside the United Center, the blustery conditions on the lakefront were the backdrop for the Chicago Bears' fourth-quarter fight in a wild-card playoff thriller. Buzelis had a special interest in the game.

As the then-21-year-old small forward lowered himself into a cold tub filled with ice water, Buzelis watched his friend Caleb Williams go to work.

Buzelis, the Bulls' 2024 first-round pick, doesn't claim to be much of a football fan, but he understood the significance of what he was witnessing as a Chicago native. Williams, one of Buzelis' closest confidants, was in the midst of a career-defining moment when he led the Bears back from a 21-3 halftime deficit to beat the Green Bay Packers 31-27.

Buzelis recalls celebrating «that crazy throw» Williams made on fourth-and-8 to Rome Odunze that kept a touchdown drive alive. Inside a suite at Soldier Field, Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong erupted as Odunze made the catch.

«My head was about touching the ceiling,» Crow-Armstrong told ESPN. «We were all jumping up and down. I feel like that's something you can't really [describe]. Maybe a walk-off homer or something like that evokes sort of a similar feeling, but that one's tough to beat.»

That game helped elevate Williams from an ascending, young quarterback into national stardom. The play — specifically Williams' jump pass — was commemorated on the cover of «Madden NFL 27.» Williams' «Ice Man» nickname started generating national buzz, and he emerged as the most recognizable star in Chicago sports. But he has company. And the