Caleb Williams knows exactly what he’s doing when he uses references from Chicago royalty.
After the Bears win over Green Bay to move to 11–4, Caleb Williams posted a clip of Michael Jordan delivering one of the coldest lines in sports history:
“You still gotta come through Chicago. Utah, Indiana, they still gotta come through Chicago. I don’t care what happens today. I don’t care what happened in the other series. Still gotta come through Chicago.”
Jordan said it following a crushing Game 4 loss by the Chicago Bulls to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals—the night Reggie Miller delivered his infamous push-off and game-winning jumper. It was MJ’s final run with the Bulls, the series felt like it was slipping, and yet he sounded completely unbothered.
That’s what makes the quote timeless. Calm. Certain. Almost therapeutic.
Seeing Williams reference it now hits differently. The Bears just beat Green Bay, and clinched a playoff berth, and their quarterback is visibly growing into himself. His confidence is not forced or performative, it’s authentic. Each week, Williams looks more like the player everyone believed he could be coming out of college.
The MJ reference isn’t accidental. It’s a statement. Chicago isn’t sneaking up on anyone. If teams want to get where they’re going, they still have to come through Chicago.
And for the first time in a long time, that feels real.
