Bears QB Caleb Williams forced to change phone number after Ben Johnson prank
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was forced to change his phone number of 15 years after a prankster reached out last week and identified himself falsely as Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Williams received a text that looked “so official” from someone claiming to be Johnson, one of the Bears' 20-plus head coaching candidates, claiming he was going to take the Bears job and wanting to chat. Williams thought it might be him, knowing his interview with the Bears was scheduled around that time. He reached out to Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, a fellow USC alum, for Johnson’s number in order to cross-check that the number was correct.
“I wasn’t going to save his number, because he’s not our coach,” Williams told the St. Brown Podcast, hosted by Amon-Ra and brother Equanimeous, in an episode that posted Wednesday morning.
Amon-Ra St. Brown was at dinner Friday and didn’t write back in time, Williams said. By then, Williams had been pranked. The video of a scuttled FaceTime call was later posted online.
“You’re a great QB,” a young-sounding man said on FaceTime. “I’m so glad you’re going to get a new head coach. I don’t know if it’s Ben Johnson.”
Johnson admitted he’d been had.
“It was a classic prank … I’ve got to give them props,” Williams said.
Williams was mad afterward, knowing that the video would probably go online and he’d be forced to change his number.
“I was trying not to flip out — I knew they were probably recording,” he said.
Amon-Ra St. Brown joked that he trashed Williams to Johnson and that he's trashed Johnson to others, hoping to trick teams in letting the offensive coordinator stay in Detroit. The Lions play the Commanders in a playoff game Saturday.
Williams offered little insight into the coaching search. When Equanimeous St. Brown, a Notre Dame alum, asked about coach Marcus Freeman being a potential candidate, Williams said he didn’t know whether he'd be interviewed. He said he respected what Freeman accomplished with the Fighting Irish.
“I would stay put — he built everything over there,” he said.
Williams said that "selfishly" he wants an offensive-minded coach but that he'd be happy with a strong-minded leader of men who was good at clock management, regardless of his background.