I’m not sure that Caleb Williams is a primadonna, but I do think there are some red flags that teams will need to delve further, if they expect him to be the face of the franchise. He refused to talk to the media after the loss to UCLA. Cam Newton did the same thing in the NFL and got roundly criticized publically and questioned about his leadership qualities.
Then there is the wacky ideas that whatever team drafts him, he wants partial ownership of the team or that he will not sign with certain teams. To me, that signals he is getting bad advice, more than he is a primadonna.
Williams’ father Carl is actively involved in his son’s career, maybe too much so, a la Kevin Murray with Kyler.
All that to say I thank my lucky stars that the Texans drafted C.J. Stroud in the 2023 NFL Draft.
The only reason the ownership idea was whacky is Caleb hasn’t done anything to warrant asking for equity in a team. But I believe if the NFL rules allowed it, it wouldn’t be too whacky for Brady to ask the Patriots for team equity after winning his third or fourth Super Bowl.
Personally, the draft is an illegal restraint of trade and should be done away with.
Why should a bunch of people other than me decide where I go to work? When we all graduated, we weren’t drafted by our jobs. We decided where we wanted to work.
Ha ha, yeah doubtful. He has already earned over 10M in NIL.
Also, he can read and write, which means he is overqualified to work at HD (in my experience). That is of course, if you can even find a person when you need help.
I mentioned that about 80 posts ago. Always did the same thing but the leverage has changed so much. Yeah, a 3rd string lineman can’t get away with this, but a heisman winning qb with millions in nil money can wait you out.
Everyone thought Jordan asking for a percent was stupid and wouldn’t get done. Don’t hurt to ask.
Giena I am with you but do you remember what happened with Eli Manning and the San Diego Chargers?
As a San Diego season ticket holders we “trashed” Eli for the same reason. Phillip Rivers will make the HOP (Huge fan of his) but spanosscumbag Chargers owner has proven over the years that Eli was…right. I can’t tell you how many Chargers players (I know of at least 12) that the spanosscumbag owner did to them. There are so many owners in the nfl that could care less about winning but to collect media money.
Regarding Caleb I do not see the leadership qualities that are needed to lead. IMO he is very talented but soft.
#1 Elway was. I never said he wasn’t #2 the draft probably needs to be examined. #3 players can go wherever they want, they have to be willing to pay the price to do it
As a long time suffering Chicago Bears fan, I don’t want him. Never did.
I hope my Bears trade the pick, get a handful of current and future draft picks and draft a good serviceable QB.
Now Fields isn’t the man to lead us out of the mire for sure. I’d like to trade him away as well. We don’t need a top draft pick QB, we need a level headed QB with a good football IQ. Doesn’t have to be a blue blood program guy … see Mahomes and Allen.
Now if you excuse me, I have a terrible baseball season to get ready for. Go, Go White Sox!!
So if you applied for a job at Google and they said OK we got a spot for you in Boston. Would you say “illegal restraint” I want to work in San Diego!"
Players in the past have challenged the NFL Draft’s legality in relation to antitrust statutes but to no prevail. This guy won…But to no avail.
(see James Smith v. Pro-Football, 420 F. Supp. 738.) Yazoo Smith suffered a career ending neck injury in his rookie season and was only guaranteed his $50,000 under his contract rather than the money he would have been worth if he had negotiated the contract himself. Smith won in district court and was ready to win when the league appealed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that the “draft inescapably forces each seller of football services to deal with one, and only one buyer, robbing the seller, as in any monopsonistic market, of any real bargaining power.” But this landmark decision for Yazoo Smith, that should have eliminated amateur drafts in all professional sports, no longer mattered with the creation of the NFLPA.
He won but it doesn’t matter because the The player’s union the NFLPA has agreed to the draft. Basically a agreement to allow the NFL to suppress compensation…
“The only path to rid the league (NFL, NBA, NHL etc) of amateur drafts that are collectively bargained for is not to sue the league, but to sue the union.” (NFLPA or other Pro sport unions)
No one is telling Caleb Williams where he has to work. He doesn’t have to play football. If he wants the substantial benefits that come with being a pro football player, then there are some limitations as well. That’s the nature of the business.
Rookies cannot go wherever they want. A player that wishes to play in the NFL must enter the draft. If they are undrafted, then they are free agents and can go wherever they want. However, that decision is not in their hands.
Bad metaphor. If I said no to Google, I would not barred from working at Microsoft, which is another Tech company. Also, I get to decide whether to work at Google or Microsoft. Now, a better comparison is that Google and Microsoft(as well as say, Oracle, Cisco, Dell, Apple, etc.) get to decide who works where.
BTW - there was actually a lawsuit based on this very issue; the suit was filed by former and current employees of those companies, who claimed that tech companies colluded to impose non-compete agreements and NDAs on employees so that they could not compare salary info and therefore reduce salaries. The plaintiffs won a large award. Why? Collusion is an illegal restraint of trade.