Chicago Bears rookie draft picks Kendall Williamson, Terell Smith grew up in same town

LAKE FOREST – Though they grew up not more than 15 minutes from each other in Snellville, Georgia, Kendall Williamson hadn’t heard much about Terell Smith until Smith committed to play football at Minnesota. Williamson’s brother, Chris Williamson, was already on the Gophers’ roster.

“My brother had said something about it,” Williamson said. “‘Oh, there’s a dude from South Gwinnett who committed to Minnesota.’”

Chris Williamson and Smith played two seasons together for the Gophers in 2018 and 2019 before Williamson graduated. Kendall Williamson took his own path, committing to play across the country at Stanford.

Several years later, though, the Bears selected both Kendall Williamson and Smith on day three of the 2023 NFL draft. Smith, a cornerback, was a fifth-round pick (165th overall) out of Minnesota and Williamson, a safety, went in the seventh round (258th overall). Williamson was the second-to-last player selected in the entire draft, narrowly missing out on becoming “Mr. Irrelevant,” the nickname given to the last player drafted every year.

Snellville is a town of about 20,000 people in Gwinnett County outside of Atlanta. Williamson went to Brookwood High School in Snellville, while Smith went to South Gwinnett. The two schools are a seven-minute drive apart.

“We were actually rivals in our county,” Smith told Shaw Local. “So we played them all the time.”

Williamson and Smith played in some of the same youth football leagues growing up, but were never teammates. They played against each other on varsity, although they both said they weren’t super aware of who the other was.

“I remember I knew of him because I knew a lot of guys that were on that team that he was on, that I had played with,” Williamson said. “A lot of guys in that area know of each other just from playing with each other, playing against each other and stuff like that.”

The Bears had 10 draft picks in the 2023 draft, including six selections on the third and final day of the draft. The odds that one team would draft two players from the same town is pretty slim.

Both players said it has been cool getting to know each other over the last couple of months. NFL players come from every corner of the country and overseas. Having someone to connect with instantly based on that shared experience can be a big thing for a rookie.

“It’s been cool having somebody kind of from the same place, same area, playing on the same team together.”

—  Kendall Williamson, Bears safety

“It’s been cool because everybody’s from different places and different walks of life and stuff like that,” Williamson said. “Just from where we’re from and who we know, we already had a little bit of a connection from that. So it’s been cool having somebody kind of from the same place, same area, playing on the same team together.”

They have both approached the season looking to make the most of their rookie opportunities. Smith is battling with second-round draft pick Tyrique Stevenson for a starting cornerback spot. Smith seems to be holding his own against Stevenson, although that battle is still ongoing.

“For me personally, it’s just going out there and just working every day in practice, putting my best foot forward every day when I step on the field,” Smith said.

Williamson is currently listed on the depth chart as a third-string safety and is likely fighting for a roster spot. With Eddie Jackson and Jaquan Brisker in the starting lineup, safety will be a tough position to crack. Elijah Hicks and A.J. Thomas are listed as the primary backups at safety.