Caleb Williams has completely flipped the narrative in a few short weeks. After being endlessly mocked for his injury in Week 2, he’s come back all guns blazing, leading the Chicago Bears to three consecutive victories, including back-to-back wins over the two teams that were in the Super Bowl.

After their Week 8 domination over the Seattle Seahawks, the star quarterback had some bold words about what the Bears mean to their city. As Williams’ take spread, however, one Super Bowl champion made it clear he wasn’t a fan.

Caleb Williams’ Take on Bears, Michael Jordan Turns a Few Heads

After their win improved them to 6-2 on the season, Williams claimed that he was told that Chicago has always been a football town, despite boasting the Chicago Bulls dynasty led by the man, the myth, the legend, Michael Jordan.

Chris Canty, a Super Bowl champion with the New York Giants, who spent more than a decade in the NFL, wasn’t too happy with his comments. For him, invoking Jordan into the conversation was taking it a step too far.

“I don’t know why he gotta be goofy after he won the biggest game of the season so far on Monday Night Football in a primetime spot. I get that you’re riding high, y’all just beat the reigning, defending champions in their house, but you ain’t gotta go to the place of talking about Michael Jordan,” Canty said.

Unfortunately, fans didn’t see it in the same way as Canty. Rather than comparing himself or the Bears to the Jordan-led Bulls, they argued that Williams was just talking about what the city of Chicago was most passionate about.

“It’s a football city, CC. Mike just happened to be bigger than basketball,” one fan pointed out, while another explained, “He’s not comparing himself to Jordan. He was just saying it’s a Bears town, which is 100% true.”

Skip Bayless, who has been one of the staunchest supporters of Jordan in sports media history, also agreed with what Williams was saying, adding further credibility to his stance.

“Last night, Caleb Williams said even during the Jordan Era, Chicago was a Bears town. He’s right,”Bayless claimed. “I was the Chicago Tribune columnist in 1998. The ‘85 Bears were and still are bigger for more people in Chicago than even MJ’s NBA team.”

Greg Gabriel also explained, “Awful take, and obviously, Canty knows nothing about Chicago. Chicago always has been and always will be a Bears town first. All the other pro teams in Chicago are the little brothers.”

A fan argued that the narrative was due to an anti-Williams bias that exists in the media.

“Caleb was not wrong. Media is always looking to turn him into a bad guy,”the fan claimed. “The Michael Jordan years in Chicago were incredible. We were the biggest basketball city in the world during the dynasty. But it’s always been a football city. Once we win a Super Bowl, you will see.”

Interestingly, Williams himself kinda-sorta made his feelings clear on Canty’s rebuttal. The Bears star retweeted a post from Audacy Bill Zimmerman that read: “Former NFL player, born in NYC, raised in North Carolina, college in Virginia, NFL career in Dallas, New York, and Baltimore, tells national audience what Chicago is or is not. Based on what knowledge?”

Historically, and as the majority of fans from Chicago have already made clear, they remain most passionate about the Bears. And under Williams, after winning the NFC North and beating the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs last year, they once again appear poised to be a legitimate contender.