Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams sent out an emotional message about suicide awareness through his painted fingernails before starting his NFL season on Monday night.
The 23-year-old had the numbers ‘988’ painted on the nails of his left hand, which is the phone number for Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
On his right hand, Williams had the suicide prevention ribbon painted on the nail of his middle finger. His other fingernails were painted blue and purple, the colors that the organization use.
In times gone by, Williams has been mocked for painting his nails as a part of his wider fashion sense but he received widespread praise from the eagle-eyed NFL fans who noticed the gesture.
‘Williams using his platform for more than touchdowns — those painted nails speak louder than most press conferences,’ one fan wrote on X.
Another said: ‘I usually give CW crap for the nails, but this specific one is awesome.’
Caleb Williams painted his fingernails to make a statement for suicide awareness month
He had numbers ‘988’ – the number of a helpline – and suicide prevention ribbon on his nails
Williams’ gesture comes in time for suicide awareness month in September and it is not the first time he has used his platform to try and raise awareness.
He sent a similar message during his days at USC in 2022, again having the numbers ‘988’ painted across his nails as part of World Mental Health day in October that year.
Williams headed into Monday’s game against Minnesota Vikings with a huge weight of expectation on his shoulders ahead of the start of his second season with the Bears.
But he made a blistering start at Soldier Field, rounding out his team’s first drive with a rushing touchdown to send his home crowd wild.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Williams had thrown for 147 yards as well as his early touchdown, with his team leading the Vikings 17-6.
But from there, it all went wrong very quickly as rival signal caller J.J. McCarthy found his groove on his first NFL game, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for one more.
It meant that the Vikings stormed back to win the game 27-24 against their divisional rivals in a game that got more encouraging for Kevin O’Connell’s team as it went on.
The Bears, and Williams, were booed off the field as Johnson’s first game ended in a deflating loss.
As for the game, Williams started brilliantly but still ended up on the losing team
Ben Johnson lost his first game as Bears head coach despite leading 17-6 at one stage
Speaking after the game, Williams said: ‘We had penalties that slowed our drives down, slowed momentum down and we have got to get better at that.
‘It’s about keeping punching, keep fighting. It’s frustrating. We felt like we were dominating the game, in control. That mentality is something that we preach but it didn’t happen today.
‘We’re going to get back to it, we’ve got to move on. We’ll watch film tomorrow and from there it’s being able to move on and correct the things we need to correct.’
Johnson and Williams meet the Detroit Lions next week, another divisional game, bidding to get their first win of the season.
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