The Heisman trophy is the most prestigious award in college football. It is an award that players strive for, and play their hardest to get. Additionally, the Heisman is given to the athlete who exemplifies core goodness off the field. This year, Caleb Williams was awarded the Heisman trophy. Williams is the quarterback for USC.
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While winning the Heisman is an occasion that is usually a happy one, Williams faced a lot of judgment from football fans all across the nation. Furthermore, dubbed as the second coming of Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback faced some very conflicting reactions from the fans on social media.
Fans react to the Heisman Winner: Caleb Williams
After the USC quarterback won the trophy, fans had varied reactions all over the internet. There was an uproar in congratulating the quarterback. However, there were also a lot of conflicting messages from the fans that pointed toward Williams’ behavior off the field.
One fan spoke about the player’s actions off the field.
The heisman is about how you play on the field and how you act off the field. Do we really think writing “F Utah” on your fingernails is good for a heisman winner? Integrity and all the other values which symbolize a Heisman winner he doesn’t have.
— ⁴⁵⁻²³ ⁴²⁻²⁷ (@MotownFanatic_) December 11, 2022
Some comments indicated that the choice was a flashy one.
Flashy choice as always. Award is just worthless anymore. Only QBs win it and the flashiest (not the best) usually win it.
— Just Riley (@IAmTheJustRiley) December 11, 2022
Furthermore, there were comments mocking the quarterback painting his fingernails.
HAS NO CLASS , no integrity and no sportsmanship if you can paint this on your finger nails 💅 pic.twitter.com/bX3MjHTibY
— CHIEF RUNNING BEAR🥋 (@William28796229) December 11, 2022
Furthermore, there were fans who talked about how they think Williams might be one of the worst winners.
Probably the worst Heisman winner I can think of in my lifetime
— Cole Clark (@ColeClark66) December 11, 2022
Additionally, there were comments questioning the integrity of the award that was given.
Isn’t “integrity” one of your qualifications? pic.twitter.com/4WoEvTRQoz
— Ric Moody (@Moodini31) December 11, 2022
Fans raised questions about Williams’ sportsmanship and his character.
Boooo! Giving someone the Heisman who is such a whiny baby, who has shown such awful sportsmanship is so pathetic. Worst person to win the Heisman in a long time. I’ll never care about a Heisman winner after seeing him win, doesn’t mean anything to me anymore after this.
— Mom The Bomb 🌻 (@immomthebomb) December 11, 2022
However, there were fans who thought that Williams was a deserving candidate for the award.
Amazing young man! Love his parents and they can be proud to have raised a fine young man. I am a TCU fan but Caleb has been an incredible QB and I wish him luck in his future!
— Christi Nutt (@christi_nutt1) December 11, 2022
Furthermore, there were comments on how Williams was the only suitable candidate for the trophy.
Williams was basically the only option. Whine about wins/losses all you want or whine about conference play. Williams was simply the best player of the 4.https://t.co/y7RDWUZZdV
— ImperfectBob (@ImperfectBob) December 11, 2022
As usual, football fans didn’t shy away from speaking their hearts out.
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War paint on the nails
Caleb Williams has interesting traditions that he follows during his games. The one that has caught the eyes of the viewers is his painted nails. Williams has painted nails through several games in the season. On Good Morning America, he explained his reason for painting his nails. He mentioned that his inspiration for painting his nails was his mother. Subsequently, he talked about how his mother has been doing it since a little after he was born. He said, ”So I was playing my game, messing with my mom, and kind of just sitting there she’d always do my nails. I didn’t get paint on him, but she’d always do ’em.”
However, after winning the Heisman Trophy, the quarterback’s integrity has been called into question. The main reason behind this was that before a game against Utah, he had painted ‘F*ck Utah’ on his nails. His actions had earned him a lot of flak from NFL fans. After winning, he was criticized even more. However, the true question lies in whether this was truly an act that takes away his integrity or whether it was all just a part of the game.
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