Caleb Williams discusses dream of reaching Heisman ceremony

In his first season at USC, quarterback Caleb Williams earned a trip to New York City for the Heisman Trophy Ceremony along with three other finalists. As with every kid who grows up playing football, Williams says the opportunity to attend the event as a finalist is a real-life dream come true.

“Yeah, it’s something that you dream of as a kid,” shared Williams this week, ahead of his big cross-country trip. “You know, when you’re in high school and then when you get to college, it’s just a goal that you might throw on the wall before the season or something like that. It’s kind of what I did. I just threw a goal up there. I do have a list on my phone of goals and, you know, a couple of them were reached. Heisman has been one of the ones that was on there and I’m here now and we’ll see what happens here soon.”

It’s a goal for most quarterbacks in the country. But only a very select few actually get to relish that dream and travel to NYC with the possibility of taking the trophy home. This year, Williams is one of those, and he’s not letting the moment pass him by.

“Yes, it’s pretty cool to be in this moment. Because, like I said, you dream of it as a kid. And, you know, you get to the point where you work super hard to be the best,” Williams said. “This is one of the trophies that kind of says that you were the best this year or whatever the case may be. So I am proud of myself for putting in the hard work.”

Aside from simply competing for the award, Williams revealed that there are added perks. Such as getting his jersey number retired one day.

“But there’s a lot more to come and there are a couple cool things that come with it,” Williams said. “Like having your jersey retired.”

Williams then shared how cool it would be for a future Trojan to have to ask his permission to use that jersey number.

“That’s probably the the coolest thing I guess you could say to me,” Williams said. “Yeah, you know, at some point, a kid’s gonna call you to say like ‘I really want to wear number 13.'”

Williams is taking it all in ahead of a trip that could change his life.