Did Caleb Williams Disrespect Michael Jordan With His Chicago Bears Town Remark?

Caleb Williams says Chicago is a Bears town, even in the Jordan years© Image via: X/@danfetes

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams beat the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks 34-17 on Monday night, then said something that had nothing to do with football strategy. He talked about Michael Jordan. By Tuesday morning, ESPN analyst Chris Canty had turned a postgame answer into a First Take argument, and Bears fans were lining up to answer him. The Bears sit at 6-2, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next. Yet the loudest conversation in Chicago right now is about a basketball dynasty and which team truly owns the city's heart, its Sundays and bragging rights.

Caleb Williams Explains What Chicago Told Him About The Bears

Caleb Williams was talking about the atmosphere around the win at Lumen Field when he reached back to what locals told him after the Bears drafted him.

"When I was brought here, they told me that, even through the times of Jordan and things like that, winning these championships, that it's a Chicago Bears town," Williams said.

That is local lore, not a boast. Chicago has argued this point for decades. The Bulls won six titles between 1991 and 1998. The Bears have not won one since Super Bowl XX, after the 1985 season. Plenty of lifelong fans will still tell you football loyalty ran deeper, even in the Jordan years. Williams simply repeated what they told him.

"You ain't gotta go to the place of talking about Michael Jordan." @ChrisCanty99 responds to Caleb Williams' comments after the Bears' win in Seattle  https://t.co/DIbP8mnzSE

— First Take (@FirstTake) November 3, 2026

His night gave the comment some weight. He completed 24 of 34 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown against the reigning champions in their own building.

Chris Canty Fires Back At Chicago Bears Quarterback Caleb Williams

Canty, a former NFL defensive end, heard something different.

"I don't know why he [Williams] got to be a goofy after he won the biggest game of the season so far on Monday Night Football in a primetime spot," Canty said.

"I get that you're riding high. Y'all just beat the reigning, defending champs in their house, but you ain't got to go to the place of talking about Michael Jordan and where Chicago was in the '90s, dog."

He then pointed to the Bulls' record. "They won six championships in a decade with two separate three-peats. Stop it," Canty added.

Host Shae Cornette tried to steer the conversation back to what Williams actually meant. "He said, 'It's a Bears town,' and he said, 'Even, I was told when I came here, even back in the '90s, in the Jordan years, it was a Bears town.'"

Canty did not move. "Whoever told him that lied to him," Canty said.

Nobody disputes the Bulls' dominance, and Canty is right to protect it. But Williams was not counting trophies. He was describing loyalty, and that is a different argument. Bears fans seemed to understand the difference, judging by the replies under the show's post on X.

Head coach Ben Johnson has kept the team's focus narrow. "We're still building. And this is part of that process right now." Williams and the Bears face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9.