Grayson Weir
Videos by OutKick
Caleb Williams is not only the best player in college football, he is an even better person. The sophomore quarterback, who transferred from Oklahoma to USC in the offseason, was named the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner on Saturday night.
What he did a week prior, before, during and after a devastating loss in the Pac-12 Championship, speaks louder than any trophy. It speaks to his character.
While playing Utah last weekend, Williams had an explicit message painted on his nails. It drew a lot of criticism, because it was in the public eye.
However, in private, Caleb Williams quietly invited two Utah Utes fans to the game on his own dime.
Jonah, 12, and Jax, 15. The two young men unexpectedly lost their father, Dave, three weeks before USC traveled to Utah. Dave was a big Utes fan who took his two sons to games whenever he could.
Williams heard that Dave had passed away and stepped in to make sure that Jonah and Jax would be able to attend the sold-out game in Salt Lake City. He could have included them both in his friends/family ticket allotment for the USC section, which would have been easy.
But Williams wanted to go even further. He got Jonah and Jax tickets in the Utah section so that they could cheer for their team amongst other fans rooting with them.
To make the whole thing even cooler, Williams went above and beyond after the game as well.
The Trojans suffered a heart-breaking, one-point loss to the Utes. It was a crushing defeat.
Where he could have gone home sad and wallowed in his devastating loss, the soon-to-be Heisman winner sought Jonah and Jax out after the game. They did not ask to meet him, he asked to meet them.
And Williams did so with a smile on his face.
Win, loss, Utah, USC— didn’t matter. In that moment, it was bigger than a game. It was bigger than football. It was bigger than the Playoff and bigger than the Heisman.
Williams cared about Jonah and Jax. Jonah and Jax cared about Williams.
Seen in the orig. pic is my daughter, close friends of Jonah. This wasn’t for show. No one knew this. I was blown away with the genuine care Caleb had for the kids. That wasn’t about teams. It’s about leadership and kindness. Caleb would never tout this. Good work! pic.twitter.com/qi1RpE9u1B
— David Bezzant (@db_bezz) December 10, 2022
Winning the Heisman is cool, but winning in life is even cooler. Williams is winning in life.
He won’t sleep with you
So we should ignore what we see and believe a marketing ploy? No thanks. I think the no class behavior speaks for itself. A great guy wouldn’t pull that stuff, but a jerk can buy media coverage with some tickets. Not what I’d expect at Outkick, however.