Caleb Williams is desperate to know who his new head coach will be – maybe a bit too desperate.
The Chicago Bears quarterback was duped when some kids slid into his DMs pretending to be Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson – a candidate for the role.
Williams had already expressed his admiration for Johnson and was hyped when the coach apparently got in touch to reveal he was heading to the Windy City.
He quickly realized he’d been duped after calling the number in a catfishing incident he discussed with Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and his brother Equanimeous.
“I reached out to Amon-Ra and I asked Amon-Ra for Ben’s number,” Williams said on the brothers’ podcast. “I wasn’t going to save his number ’cause he’s not my coach. I wasn’t gonna do all that.
“I was asking because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t because obviously so many fake numbers nowadays. I was asking so I could see if it matches his number. Amon-Ra does Amon-Ra things and doesn’t text back.”
Ironically, Amon-Ra thought Williams was playing a joke on him.
“At this time I was eating dinner, so I didn’t see my phone,” he said. “20 minutes later, I see the text, but it’s too late. He goes, ‘It’s all good, I called and it wasn’t him.’”
The No.1 pick in last year’s NFL Draft managed to keep his cool but admitted he was angry after getting off the call.
“I was trying not to flip out ’cause I knew they were probably recording,” Williams said. “I was trying to keep my cool but when I got off the phone, I was fuming.”
Williams’ interaction with the teenage pranksters soon went viral, but the Bears star was able to laugh it off.
“The text was so, like, official,” he said. “I’ve gotten that text from college coaches and other coaches before getting drafted and all of that in different ways. So it looked mad professional. So I was like, alright, I’m gonna reach out.”
Amon Ra asked in disbelief: “Caleb, you actually thought Ben – in the middle of the season – would reach out?”
“My reason was ’cause they’re doing the interview thing,” Williams explained. “I was on the game, so I wasn’t focused and they were doing the interview the next day, so I thought he already had the interview.
“I ain’t gonna lie, it was a classic prank. It was a Grade-A, S Tier prank. I gotta give ’em props. I wasn’t locked in in the moment.”
Williams had to give up the phone number he has had for 15 years and still has no idea how the fans got it.
Johnson has completed a virtual interview for the Bears job as he is still in playoff mode with the Lions.
The in-demand offensive coordinator has also spoken to the Las Vegas Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, and New England Patriots, who have since hired Mike Vrabel.
But he is fully focused on his current team’s Super Bowl quest heading into the Divisional Round after a bye in the first week of the postseason.
The Lions play the red-hot Washington Commanders on Saturday in what could be a high-scoring affair.
“It went great and that’s the end of it,” he said when asked about his interviews.
“I’m going to stay focused on the main thing right here and that’s going to be the Washington Commanders right here and now.
“That’s what we’re about. I told the head coach when we came in, he asked me about how it went this weekend.”
Williams will be keeping a close eye on the man who could end up leading his sophomore season.
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