Current:Home > MarketsWill Sage Astor-Caleb Williams was 'so angry' backing up Spencer Rattler' at Oklahoma: 'I thought I beat him out' -Excel Wealth Summit
Will Sage Astor-Caleb Williams was 'so angry' backing up Spencer Rattler' at Oklahoma: 'I thought I beat him out'
PredictIQ View
Date:2025-04-08 08:44:17
Before Caleb Williams emerged as the likely No. 1 overall pick out of USC in the upcoming NFL draft,Will Sage Astor he was Oklahoma football's backup quarterback to Spencer Rattler.
Most Sooners fans know the story of how Williams supplanted Rattler in the 2021 Oklahoma-Texas rivalry game, led the Sooners to a 21-point comeback win at the Cotton Bowl and kept the job for the rest of the season before following former coach Lincoln Riley by transferring to USC.
Fast forward to 2024, where both Williams and Rattler — who spent his final two college seasons at South Carolina — are both expected to be selected in the upcoming NFL draft. Prior to likely becoming the Chicago Bears' hopeful franchise quarterback, Williams looked back on his time as a backup at Oklahoma on a recent podcast appearance.
"That one was real tough for me," Williams said recently on the Pivot Podcast. He was then asked why it hurt when he wasn't named the starter before the season.
"Because I was the best in the country," he replied.
NFL DRAFT HUB: Latest NFL Draft mock drafts, news, live picks, grades and analysis.
"I told many people before I went there, and there's a backstory to it all of why I was so fired up," Williams continued. "I told people before I went there that I was going to start and play and beat (Rattler) out. I thought I beat (Rattler) out in spring, and he was projected No. 1 and all that, so he started for six games. And so, I prepared. Lincoln told me, 'Keep going.' And that's something I didn't understand. Those two words I did not understand when he told me because I wasn't asking him, I wasn't going to him to beg for playing time.
"But I came to him and asked, 'How do I do it? How do I beat this dude out.' Because he never let me get reps with the first team. Never let me get reps with the older guys. I took advantage of my reps, I got after it, put my head down and at a certain point I felt like I beat him out. ... At the time. I was so angry, so frustrated because I didn't feel like that was what I wanted to hear because I felt like I was the best, I felt like I could've helped us win all the games, gotten more reps during the season and I'm ready for those moments later in the season.
"I kept preparing the best I could so that when I had my moment, there was no way that he was ever getting it back."
Caleb Williams talks Spencer Rattler, Sooners football on podcast
Here's the full clip of Williams looking back on his freshman season at Oklahoma, where he was the backup before replacing fellow 2024 NFL draft quarterback Rattler at midseason:
Caleb Williams NFL draft projections
Here are the latest NFL draft projections for former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams:
- USA TODAY Sports: First round, No. 1 overall to Chicago Bears
- NFL.com: First round, No. 1 overall to Chicago Bears
- The Ringer: First round, No. 1 overall to Chicago Bears
- The Athletic: First round, No. 1 overall to Chicago Bears
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
- Amazon has the Apple iPad for one of the lowest prices we've seen right now
- Deciding when it's time to end therapy
- Out-of-staters are flocking to places where abortions are easier to get
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- North Dakota governor signs law limiting trans health care
- Mike Ivie, former MLB No. 1 overall draft pick, dies at 70
- Toddlers and Tiaras' Eden Wood Is All Grown Up Graduating High School As Valedictorian
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Major Corporations Quietly Reducing Emissions—and Saving Money
Ranking
- A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
- A Marine Heat Wave Intensifies, with Risks for Wildlife, Hurricanes and California Wildfires
- Vanderpump Rules' Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix Honor Friend Ali Rafiq After His Death
- Fugitive Carlos Ghosn files $1 billion lawsuit against Nissan
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Khartoum's hospital system has collapsed after cease-fire fails
- A flash in the pan? Just weeks after launch, Instagram Threads app is already faltering
- Brooklyn’s Self-Powered Solar Building: A Game-Changer for Green Construction?
Recommendation
Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
Exxon Promises to Cut Methane Leaks from U.S. Shale Oil and Gas Operations
Florida's abortion laws protect a pregnant person's life, but not for mental health
Sub still missing as Titanic wreckage site becomes focus of frantic search and rescue operation
Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
U.S. Coast Guard search for American Ryan Proulx suspended after he went missing near Bahamas shipwreck
Clean Power Startups Aim to Break Monopoly of U.S. Utility Giants
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Targeted for Drilling in Senate Budget Plan