A few days after being catfished, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is sharing his side of the story.
A video of Williams being catfished by someone pretending to be Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson went viral last Friday. On Wednesday, Williams spoke about the prank in an episode of the St. Brown podcast, telling brothers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Equanimeous St. Brown about what led to the incident.
The Bears rookie laughed off the prank, where a “little-ass kid” had tricked him into thinking that Johnson, who is a potential candidate for Chicago’s head coach vacancy, was reaching out to their QB1.
“The text was so, like, official,” Williams said on Wednesday, comparing the message to texts he would get from coaches prior to the NFL Draft. “It looked mad professional.”
Amon-Ra St. Brown, who plays under Johnson on the Lions, accusatorially asked Williams if he really thought that Johnson would be reaching out to him when the team was still in the playoffs. Williams said that he had gotten turned around, thinking that Johnson’s interview with the Bears had already happened, but it wasn’t until the next day. (Johnson completed his interview with Chicago on Jan. 11.)
Williams said that he tried to message Amon-Ra, his former USC teammate, to confirm whether it was really him and whether the number matched the one that Amon-Ra had.
“I wasn’t gonna save his number, ’cause he’s not our coach,” Williams clarified, before accusing Amon-Ra of not responding: “Amon-Ra does Amon-Ra things, and doesn’t text back.”
Amon-Ra and Williams sparred on the specifics, with Amon-Ra saying that he did initially respond but thought it was a joke. “I go, ‘F*** out of here. Ben ain’t coming to Chicago,'” Amon-Ra said.
By the time Amon-Ra might’ve realized Williams was serious, it was too late: Amon-Ra said that he was eating dinner and didn’t see the text until 20 minutes later. By then, Williams had called the number.
An hour later, Williams’ exchange had gone viral on social media.
In the video, a young man answered a FaceTime from Williams, who had called the number in order to confirm whether it was really Johnson. “You’re a great QB,” the prankster told Williams. “I’m so glad you’re going to get a new head coach. I don’t know if it’s Ben Johnson.”
“I was trying not to flip out, ’cause I knew they were probably recording, so I was trying to keep my cool, but when I got off the phone I was fuming,” Williams said Wednesday.
Williams said that he’d had that phone number for 15 years, but was unsure how the person had gotten a hold of it. He has since changed his number.
The video’s presence on social media prompted a flood of Williams’ friends to reach out and tease him. “I didn’t respond to one text. I was so mad,” Williams said.
Amon-Ra apologized for his part in the situation, and Williams readily forgive him. He also expressed some admiration for the kid who pranked him.
“I ain’t gonna lie, it was a classic prank. It was a grade-A, S-tier prank,” Williams said. “I gotta give ’em props. I wasn’t locked in in the moment.”
