Editor’s note: The attached video is The Athletic’s Dianna Russini joining GN Sports this week to break down the Bears’ search for a head coach.
The Bears haven’t named a new head coach yet, but Caleb Williams does have a new phone number.
That’s because this past Friday, a wily prankster posing as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson got ahold of Williams’ old number and texted him that he was going to be taking over as the Bears’ next head coach.
The prank briefly got Williams — hook, line and sinker — and he admitted it later.
Williams even reached out to Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, a fellow USC alum, to get Johnson’s number so he could check to see if it was Johnson who had indeed texted him.
St. Brown was apparently at dinner at the time and didn’t get back to Williams right away, but soon enough, the ruse was up.
The pranksters — obviously kids, not an NFL offensive coordinator — got Williams on a FaceTime call and revealed their prank.
By now, the prank text and FaceTime call have made the rounds all over social media, so it’s not exactly a secret.
“Hey Caleb, this is Ben Johnson,” the text started. “Just wanted to reach out ahead of time before it gets released to the media, I will be taking the HC job. Very excited to work with you in the future. Great things.”
To which Williams replied, “Actually? Ben”
Explained on podcast
In a new video, posted Wednesday, Williams explained more about the prank on the St. Brown Podcast, hosted by Amon-Ra and his brother, Equanimeous St. Brown, most recently a receiver with the New Orleans Saints but previously with the Bears and Green Bay Packers.
If you want to check it out, the St. Brown Podcast episode with Williams is now up on YouTube (warning: video contains some explicit language).
The Bears quarterback talked about a number of topics, but the St. Browns couldn’t help but needle him about the Ben Johnson “catfish” situation.
Williams took it good-naturedly, even saying it was a good prank.
“I ain’t going to lie: It was a classic prank,” Williams conceded. “It was a grade-A … prank. I’ve got to give him props. I wasn’t locked in in the moment.”
When asked how he could believe the text, Williams said it “was so official.”
“I’ve gotten that text from college coaches and other coaches before getting drafted and all that in different ways,” he said. “It looked mad professional, so I was like, ‘I’m going to reach out.'”
Amon-Ra also questioned Williams as to why he’d think Johnson would be contacting him directly when the top-seeded Lions are still in the playoffs. They host the Washington Commanders in a NFC Divisional Round game Saturday night.
Williams explained that he thought the Bears had already done their interview with Johnson, one of the top candidates in this NFL head coaching cycle. The Bears did interview Johnson virtually, but the interview was on Saturday, a day after Williams was pranked.
“I already thought he had the interview,” Williams told the St. Browns.
It was on their podcast that Williams said he contacted Amon-Ra for Johnson’s number, just so he could verify the text.
The Lions receiver didn’t see Williams’ inquiry until the gag was up and Williams knew he’d been pranked good — but not before the cat was out of the bag.
“Twenty minutes later, I see the text, but it’s too late,” Amon-Ra said. “And (Williams) goes, ‘It’s all good. I called and it wasn’t (Johnson).’
“… An hour later, that (stuff’s) on Twitter.”
Williams admitted the prank angered him, but since he knew the FaceTime call was being recorded, he played nice with the pranksters and just gave them their props. He also said he didn’t know how they got his old phone number, which he said he had for “probably 15 years.”
“Somebody must’ve gave it to him,” Williams said. “Somebody must’ve said something, or he got lucky and just dialed the number.”
Well, Williams doesn’t have that number anymore.
“On the bright side, I got a new number, so nobody has my number,” he said.
Since the prank was, after all, harmless, Williams could laugh about it with the St. Brown brothers.
They covered a lot of other ground in the podcast, including Williams breaking down the qualities he wants in head coach. However, he didn’t give specific names or tip anything off about the Bears’ coaching search.
If they do, in fact, hire the “real” Ben Johnson, Williams will know it’s not a prank this time, thanks to his new number that no other precocious pranksters should have.