Caleb Williams sends funny welcome message to new Bears punter

LAKE FOREST – Looking to upgrade a weakness from last season, the Bears selected record-setting Iowa punter Tory Taylor with a fourth-round draft pick on Saturday.

In the words of general manager Ryan Poles, Taylor is “one of the best punters I’ve ever seen.” He set the single-season NCAA record for total punt yardage in 2023, breaking an 85-year-old record that previously appeared as if it might never be broken.

The Bears believe they added a true weapon in the 26-year-old Australian punter.

Shortly after being drafted, Taylor received a text message from his new teammate, No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. The Bears’ new quarterback was quick to let Taylor know that he should make himself comfortable on the Bears’ bench.

“Caleb just texted me,” Taylor said. “‘Hey, you’re not going to punt too much here.’”

With a dangerous trio of receivers in DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze, Williams is pretty confident the Bears won’t be punting in 2024. Williams plans on keeping the chains moving all the way to the end zone.

“That was pretty funny,” Taylor said. “It’s one of those things, you actually never really know when you’re going to go out on the field.”

But when he was on the field for Iowa last season, Taylor might’ve been the Hawkeyes’ best weapon. He totaled 4,479 total yards on 93 punts last season.