The 2024 NFL Draft is hours away with the Chicago Bears expected to take their next franchise quarterback with the first overall pick.
All eyes have been on USC quarterback Caleb Williams to be the number one pick for months now with Williams being considered one of the best quarterback prospects in recent memory.
Like any high-profile public figure, Williams' name has been mentioned countless times throughout the draft process for all the right, and wrong, reasons.
Throughout his entire life, Williams has walked to the beat of his own drum and gone about life in his own way. That shouldn’t be seen as a detriment to who he is. While being one of the most polarizing prospects in recent memory, one attribute remained the same, Williams is an incredible player and leader on field and nothing off of it should matter to anyone.
So much of the pre-draft process surrounding Williams has focused more on who and what he does off the field than on the field. Williams was one of the highest NIL earners in college football and his personable personality off the field garnered more headlines than what he was doing on the field, despite being a spectacular player.
As this continued to come up through the process, how Williams was portrayed in the media looked more and more similar to another high-profile first overall pick who went on to set the NFL world on fire, Cam Newton. So, who better to understand what Williams is going through than Newton himself?
Earlier today, Newton sat down with NFL Network's Kyle Brandt for a one-on-one interview on "Good Morning Football" and was asked about how he relates to what Williams is now going through.
"We can't be hypocrites in America," Newton explained. "You can't promote land of the free and then all of a sudden when someone does something that makes them unique, you crucify them. I think really for us, in this profession that we are in, Gen Z is here and they are here to stay. Whatever a person does personally, should just matter personally. If it starts bleeding into their play, then that's when you can care."
A lot of what Williams will soon go through in the NFL will be similar to what Newton was forced to go through entering the league not too long ago. Everything you do, wear, say, or show will be talked about and criticized. That's just an unfortunate fact. And as Newton learned, nothing you do on the field will ever change that.
Williams is set to become a superstar in Chicago walking into the best supporting cast a first overall pick has ever seen entering the league. He's also walking into a major market as the face of the franchise from the start. That will always come with pressure and Newton's advice to Williams is just to let his play continue to do the talking.
"As I'm seeing these highlights of Caleb Williams; pink nails, red nails, green nails, no nails, if you can play football and you can win football games in that locker room, and for that franchise, nothing else matters," Newton said.
It's a strong message to make on national TV just hours before the draft but he couldn’t be more right in what he said. The new era is on the way in more ways than one for the Bears and the entire NFL with Williams leading the charge.
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