Caleb Williams Reveals Why He Didn't Want Commanders to Draft Him

It was nothing personal and it worked out fine. Moreover, had the chips fallen a different way? That probably would have been fine, too.

But Caleb Williams - who ended up being selected with the first overall pick in this year's NFL Draft, thus becoming the Chicago Bears' great QB hope - was the subject of Washington rumors.

Those rumors? That Williams had no desire to end up having to play for the Washington Commanders, who held the second pick.

We are now getting clarity on some truth here, which begins with a couple of basic facts. One, the USC star went to the team with the No. 1 pick, and that was the favored connection for weeks leading up to the draft, thus making the Washington "issue'' a non-issue. And two, while some draft prospects have pulled off power plays to get steered to a preferred spot (John Elway and Eli Manning and that's about it), of somehow Williams dropped to the No. 2 slot?

Washington would've drafted him. And this area would've celebrated. Why?

Because, as you know Williams is a local kid. He is from Maryland - which by the way is the only reason he now has to talk about the speculation surrounding him and his hometown team.

“I wasn’t against going home, as people said also throughout the process,” Williams said in an appearance on the "Pardon My Take" podcast. “It was more of .. everybody in my family is there. … Family ... Family hat’s not family ... (Family) that I haven’t known or the 'new family' that everybody talks about.''

And there it is. The added burden of having to be enveloped by hangers-on was the concern - not the city or the franchise.

Said Williams: "It was more or less having to deal with all of that and make it a huge distraction for me and take away from the thing that I enjoy doing, I love doing every single day.”

In the end, all involved seem happy. The Bears ended up with Williams, the player they always wanted in this draft class. And it's so-far, so-good there.

And the same with the Commanders, also ended up with a franchise quarterback of their own in LSU's Jayden Daniels. And it's so-far, so-good here as well.