Caleb Williams makes feelings clear on Soldier Field and Chicago amid $8.2bn three-state relocation battle
Caleb Williams believes Soldier Field has the best atmosphere in football.
The second-year quarterback exploded into life in 2025, and led the Chicago Bears back to the top of the NFC North.
He was also key to their first playoff win since 2010, and that came against the rival Green Bay Packers inside their historic home.
The Bears, though, might not be at Soldier Field for much longer.
Three states are locked in a battle for the future of the $8.2 billion franchise, with neighboring Iowa and Indiana putting together plans to take the team out of Illinois.
For Williams, though, Solider Field is the perfect place for the Bears.
The building offers him a unique weather advantage, and the QB has this week revealed the atmosphere of the stadium and the city has really benefited his early career.
Caleb Williams opens up on Chicago atmosphere
“I’m actually itching to get back to be honest. I’m fighting myself right now because I do know that rest and getting away is extremely important. So I’m fighting the urge right now. Fire’s burning,” he told fellow NFL star Maxx Crosby on his Rush podcast.
“I’m ready, especially after the work. Going through the tough of last year, but also going through the tough of this year, with a new coach — a tough coach — and having to learn so much.
“Then the benefits of going out there and being able to win games and feeling confident and the guys believing — just winning, it’s all that matters. It’s one of the best feelings in the world.
“Going back into that locker room and after shaking hands, and partying with your boys in the locker room, it’s unbeatable.
“Especially in a place where they haven’t had it in so long. I feel like some places when they have that success for so long, like in New England, I’m sure they were hyped to get this Super Bowl.
“But they didn’t have too long of a hiatus. They don’t really know the struggle. We’ve gone 40 years since winning a Super Bowl and it’s been 15 years either going to the playoffs or winning a playoff game.
“The atmosphere of that (Soldier Field playoff) national anthem — it was like a band of people coming together during that.
“And it was it’s one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever been in, if not the best. So I’m excited to get back to that and bring that juice back to Chicago.”
Williams then went on to praise the Windy City as a whole.
The No. 1 pick of the 2024 draft, who struggled in his rookie season, discussed the pressures — and rewards — of representing a sports town.
“I didn’t exactly know what it was going to be like to be honest,” Williams revealed of being drafted by the Bears.
“It’s pretty crazy in Chicago. I mean, they do love football out there. It’s one of the first things that somebody told me.
“They’ve had the Bulls, they’ve had the Cubs. We’ve had all these teams win championships and the Bulls obviously went on a run.
“But the 1985 Bears and that group of winning and going to playoffs and all of that… It’s a Bear city.
“I didn’t realize it until probably this year to be honest with you, when you start winning and the people around the city (know).
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“You’re driving into the city at night on off days, or game days — whatever the case may be — and the whole city, the skyline is blue and orange.
“It’s crazy. It’s sick, man. I appreciate everybody from the Bears, but also the fans. They’ve made this experience and job just unbelievable.”
Williams’ words leave little argument — Chicago is where the Bears belong.
Bears at center of relocation headache
But Soldier Field could soon sit empty.
The franchise wants to build a brand new, state-of-the-art stadium in the suburbs.
A site in Arlington Heights, Illinois, was initially selected and would have seen the team move 30 miles from downtown.
But before Christmas — and before those electric playoff games — Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren revealed there were potential roadblocks to the $4.7bn stadium plan.
That opened the door for Indiana to make a $5bn offer, and Iowa later become a potential relocation option.
A three-way war has broken out over the Bears, and could see the franchise move a long way from Soldier Field.
If that happens, Williams and his teammates might not be too happy.
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