The Green Bay Packers have needed to hear what safety Evan Williams recently said for quite some time.
Williams can walk the walk. That much has been clear since the Packers selected him in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Oregon.
Advertisement
This is a team in the Matt LaFleur era that has needed a bit of spark, though. Perhaps a little bit of fire.
As such, it’s exciting to hear Williams talking a little bit of talk as well.
Specifically, Williams recently had some strong words directed at Green Bay‘s biggest all-time rivals, the Chicago Bears.
Speaking on Wilde and Tausch on ESPN Milwaukee, Evans was asked about a run-in he had with a high schooler at an event who wanted to rub his nose in the fact that the Bears beat the Packers in the playoffs this past season.
It looked like this:
Williams was asked about that moment in the follow-up by Jason Wilde, and he had a strong opinion of his own on the state of Chicago fandom.
Advertisement
“These Bear fans, they had one winning season. Trying to rage-bait us and get a reaction out of us. We’re not standing for it,” Williams said. “Some high schoolers definitely had a couple of strong opinions about their fandom and all that…just had to let them know that we’re coming for them this year and all the years to come.”
That’s the fire you want to hear out of a young player on the losing end of a big-time rivalry game. The Packers can’t tuck tail and hide from that devastating playoff loss to Chicago, and here, Williams is facing it head on.
We know that’s what Chicago head coach Ben Johnson is doing.
“There’s a rivalry that exists between these two teams, something that I fully recognize and I’m a part of,” Johnson said a few months ago. “And, yeah, I just, I don’t like that team.”
Advertisement
That’s the energy the Bears are bringing back to this rivalry after years of being the Packers doormat, and Green Bay must match it.
Love it or hate it, LaFleur is not going to be the one to do it. He’s going to stay measured and non-confrontational, because taht’s just who he is.
To hear it from a young safety, though? One of the rising stars on this team?
That’s a big deal, and the rest of the locker room needs to do everything it can this offseason to back Williams’ words up.
Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III (10) dives for a first down on a 27-yard reception against Green Bay Packers safety Evan Williams (33) in the second quarter during their wild-card playoff football game Saturday, January 10, 2026, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. © Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.
Couple Williams with Green Bay’s other rising-star defensive back, Javon Bullard, and the Packers may have some real fire smoldering in their defensive backfield.
Advertisement
“Damn, I hate Chicago!” Bullard recently told Tyler Dunne. “It’s like real hate. I can’t stand Chicago. I don’t know what the hell it is. I don’t like the team. I don’t like their coach. I don’t like s— about Chicago. Except for their food. I do love their food. But other than that, man? Damn Chicago.”
That’s a fire, indeed. The Pack must let Williams and Bullard lead the way in 2026.