Kirk Herbstreit's Comments About Caleb Williams On Thursday Night Are Not Sitting Well With Bears Fans, And For Good Reason.
Yahoo Sports - Thursday Night Football analyst Kirk Herbstreit used the Thursday, December 26 slog between the Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks to question the leadership of Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams — which left plenty of viewers at home puzzled.
Herbstreit, 55, was on the call for the game Thursday night, a sloppy affair that saw the Seahawks emerge victorious by a final score of 6-3 at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
"I think the thing that remains to be seen — and only time will tell — is if he understands what it takes to be an NFL quarterback as far as the preparation, as far as first guy there, last guy to leave,” Herbstreit pondered to broadcast partner Al Michaels.
Herbstreit then explained he had no real reason for questioning anything about Williams and his integrity inside the Bears facility.
“I'm not suggesting he's not doing those things,” he continued, “but just all of the little things that really make the great quarterbacks special."
Wait, what?
During the Chicago Bears’ slog of a 6-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks the other night, Herbstreit decided to offer some unsolicited musings about rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. What followed was a verbal tap dance that was flat out baffling.
Caleb has had a rough rookie campaign. He’s playing behind a paper-thin offensive line, in an offense that seems allergic to creativity, and for a franchise that couldn’t find stability if their life depended on it.
But for some reason, Herbstreit decided Thursday night was the perfect time to question Williams’ work ethic and leadership. And by “question,” I mean imply a problem that he openly admitted he had zero evidence for.
So, you’re not saying he isn’t doing the work, but you are suggesting it might be an issue… even though you have no evidence or reports to back it up?
That’s like me saying, “I’m not suggesting Kirk Herbstreit is bad at his job, but maybe he’s never watched a Bears game before.”
Anyone who has paid even a sliver of attention to the Bears this year knows that Caleb Williams has been the lone (semi) bright spot on a team mired in dysfunction. Sure, his stats from Thursday night—16-for-28 for 122 yards and an interception- weren’t inspiring. (But he made plays like this that do show promise.)
The Bears have been so bad this season, that I say Williams has been the only semi-bright spot despite pretty much stinking up the joint.
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But in context, not so bad.
But who could thrive when they’re running for their life on every other snap and throwing to receivers who couldn’t separate from a parked car?
I mean, look at this.
And the drops.
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Williams, when asked about the loss and the fan boos, handled it with more poise and professionalism than Herbstreit did during his entire broadcast.
Herbstreit’s comments feel emblematic of a larger issue in sports commentary: the desperate need to create a narrative, even when there isn’t one.
It’s lazy. It’s reductive. And in this case, it’s completely baseless.
Bears fans on social media, and Chicago sports radio have been killing Herbstreit for saying something so dumb. Rightfully so.
Instead of highlighting Williams’ perseverance in a brutal season, Kirk decided to plant a seed of doubt about his leadership- a seed that has no business being planted.
And immediately after, we've got Compton dropping anonymous sources slamming him from Week 17 practices, so take that how you will.
I'm not saying he's lying, or what he's saying is untrue (there were rumors of Lincoln Riley having to dumb down his playbook that everybody knew about), but where was this shit months ago? Why's everybody digging and piling on now?
THIS is the guy everybody should be going after.
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It's not Williams' fault he got thrown into this dumpster fire. Don't ever forget all the "experts" that were calling this "the best situation a rookie qb has ever come into", when in reality it was a fucking slaughter house.