It’s the dawn of a new era for the Chicago Bears and, hopefully, for the National Football League as a whole.
The Bears took Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and expectations are at an all-time high in the Windy City.
Nonetheless, it’s not like opposing players will just roll over and allow him to dominate.
If anything, with that kind of expectation and hype, defensive players will look to break him and get into his head.
That’s why it wasn’t much of a surprise to see Jeffery Simmons, one of the most prominent trash-talkers in today’s game, talk about his desire to talk trash to him in their upcoming meeting (via Around the NFL):
“Painted nails. I can’t wait to say that to him,” Simmons said. “Most definitely. Oh, it’s gonna be one of them games. I mean, he probably gets smack-talked by his teammates right now, but especially a game like that. My first game, of course I missed the last end of the season. … It’s gonna be the first game of the season.
Titans DT Jeffery Simmons “can’t wait” to trash-talk Bears QB Caleb Williams in Week 1https://t.co/5F02ViEXYa
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) June 30, 2024
Simmons is the kind of player who’s always going to try and get an edge over his opponents by getting under their skin, and it works out perfectly more often than not.
It’s reached a point where officials usually have to get involved to prevent things from escalating.
Williams has shown to have very thick skin thus far, shutting down all the criticism about the way he handled his pre-draft process, the doubts about whether he would be able to play in cold weather, and even all the mockery and comments about the way he paints his nails and wears lip gloss.
Now, he’ll have to demonstrate that with the pros as well, and the rest of the league will look to prevent him from becoming the dominant force some think he could be.
