After the Bears fired Matt Eberflus, there has been much anticipation as to who might be the next head coach in Chicago.
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That is, one of the top candidates is NFC North rival Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson.
And this gave a couple teenagers an idea to 'catfish' rookie quarterback Caleb Williams into believing Ben Johnson is trying to get a hold of him.
Caleb Williams got pranked by a text message pretending to be HC Candidate Ben Johnson 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/HoGs75KDlA
— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) January 11, 2025
The teenagers, who somehow got Williams' number, wrote a professional first text.
"Hey Caleb, this is Ben Johnson. 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."
Williams responded: "Actually? Ben"
Fake Ben Johnson responded, "Yes I wanted you to be the first to know. We will talk more as the season winds down."
The Bears QB fully believes it at this point.
"Okay cool... Sounds good," Williams said. "I'm def excited for the future! Let's get this s*** going and turn it around n do what hasn't been done in years! In the meantime! F***ing go kill! We'll talk soon!"
Then after the texts Williams jumped on a FaceTime call, and this is when he found out he had been duped.
Someone named Ben Johnson pranked Caleb Williams as “Ben Johnson” and that he got the #Bears HC Job. He even got Caleb on Facetime 😭
(🎥 @ChiTownnSports) pic.twitter.com/WpK5oZatrD
— uSTADIUM (@uSTADIUM) January 11, 2025
Williams appeared on Lions' star player Amon-Ra St. Brown's podcast this week, where he gave his side of the story of how it all went down.
And as it turns out, the 23-year-old was not too happy after he was embarrassed, especially since the teens recorded the instantly viral clip.
Damn: #Bears star QB Caleb Williams was "Mad" when he found out that it was a prank that Ben Johnson was hired as his head coach:
"I was so maaaaaaad." 😅pic.twitter.com/uyWhQvO7c1 https://t.co/THH5PLsP4b
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 15, 2025
At one point, Williams even blames St. Brown, as he said he had asked the Lions wideout for Ben Johnson's number earlier to confirm whether it was real or not, yet he never got back with him.
"I reached out to Amon-Ra, and I asked [him] for Ben's [Johnson] number," Williams said. "...I was asking because I wanted to make sure it was his actual number. Amon-Ra does Amon-Ra things, and he doesn't text back."
Amon Ra said that he didn't text back right away cause he was busy, but also noted that he thought Williams was messing with him as well.
"He [Williams] texted me and said 'What's Ben's number? I got these random dudes trying to hit me up saying they're Ben,'" St. Brown said. "So I said f*** outta here, Ben is not coming to Chicago. I was eating dinner so I didn't answer my phone, 20 minutes later I see the text [from Williams] but it's too late, 'It's all good, I called but it wasn't him.' So I didn't put anything together, an hour later, I seen it on Twitter."
Regarding the Bears' vacant head coaching position, the real Ben Johnson did already have an interview with the organization this past weekend, and is scheduled for another one in the coming weeks.
Ultimately, it is yet to be seen if Johnson is really coming to Chicago, as the 38-year-old offensive guru at this moment is focused on helping the Lions in their NFC playoff push.
And considering the prank, Williams doesn't have any hard feelings.
"I ain't gon' lie, it was a classic prank," Williams said on the podcast. "I gotta give 'em props. I wasn't locked in at the moment."
As for how the fans got his number, Williams doesn't have a clue, but as of now the former USC standout got some new digits in case anyone else wants to try and fool him.
"I've had the number for 15 years. I don't have it no more. New number."
All in all, if Johnson does end up actually becoming the new head coach, they will certainly have good laughs over the situation.
