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player ready...Exactly as he would before a two-minute drill, Caleb Williams said he took a deep breath and got a little air out before diving into the lineup of increasingly hot chicken wings on the popular First We Feast YouTube series “Hot Ones.”
The Chicago Bears quarterback’s appearance on the show Thursday was a worthy kickoff to the upcoming NFL season, which is just over a week away.
“How will the IceMan handle a zero blitz from the world’s hottest wings? I guess only time will tell,” began host Sean Evans, an Evanston native and graduate of the University of Illinois.
Evans has built a massive following for his interview series, known for its thoughtful questions and unique format that uses a gauntlet of scorching chicken wings to break through the polished public personas of celebrities.
Once locked in, Williams started with the first of 10 wings, as he and Evans moved up the “Scoville scale,” which measures the spiciness of chili peppers and other hot foods.
Easy. “Let’s dance,” Williams said, biting into a relatively milder wing.
Williams said when he first moved to Chicago after being drafted as the No. 1 pick in 2024, he had his doubts.
“I didn’t think I was going to like it that much, to be honest. And I fell in love with the city of Chicago. The people, the food, obviously the sports,” he said. “And then, also, Chicago’s actually insanely clean. So it surprised me.”
Evans chimed in that he actually used to host one of the city’s architecture boat tours, something Williams has yet to experience.
The questions climbed in intensity, too, entering into deeply researched territory as Williams acclimated to the fire. They discussed lessons learned from football legends, handed out superlatives to Williams’ fellow Bears teammates, and talked about having fun on the football field despite moments of high pressure, like the overtime playoff loss against the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football Conference divisional round last season.
“Even though we lost, it was electric … from the start to the finish … shout out to Chicago, the fans. And obviously the weather — you know (how) you play Madden, and you turn on the weather, you got snow going down … It felt like I was in a video game.”
Williams cruised through the first six wings, without so much as a sip of water. Guests typically take only a small bite or two, with a dab of sauce. Williams went back in for another bite for a few of them.
The seventh sauce, called “8 Dragons,” 102,000 on the Scoville scale, was sweet at first, Williams noted. “I can feel it coming” — to which Evans fired back, “Nothing you can’t handle.”
For the eighth wing, aptly named “Da Bomb,” Williams finally started to feel the heat and reached for the cold glass of milk nearby: “It has no taste in the beginning … that’s the hot one, isn’t it?”
“WHEW!”
He recoiled slightly as soon as the next wing brushed his lips — at 820,000 Scoville units.
“We got more milk?” he wondered, having nearly gulped an entire glass.
For the final wing, dipped in a hot sauce with a heat level so high it was given a “TBA” on the Scoville scale, Williams popped the top off the whole milk container.
“Shout out … dairy!”
When the Tribune’s Phil Thompson asked
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about the challenge against the “Wings of Death,” Williams said earlier this week that it was a “good time.”“(Host Sean Evans) asked good questions. But, yeah, you can count it as a cheat day. It was a good day.”
Earlier this year, Williams made history as the first player in franchise history to be the cover of EA Sports’ Madden NFL 27 video game. The Bears’ season begins Sept. 13 against the Carolina Panthers.