Rome Odunze and Caleb Williams won’t ‘split’ or fight for first career TD ball originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
INDIANAPOLIS — When Caleb Williams passed Rome Odunze for a 1-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Bears’ 21-16 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, everyone had the same question.
Who gets to keep the ball?
After Odunze bagged the score, he and Williams celebrated with a choreographed celebration that included the starting quarterback running after the receiver to grab the memento.
But that was all for show. There was no discussion about who got to keep the ball.
“We’re going to cut it in half,” Odunze joked after the Bears’ loss. “He gets a right, I get a left, like the Twix factory. But no, I think he’s going to give me this one. He’s going to get plenty more in his career, way more than me, so he blessed me with this first one.”
As for the celebration, the Bears’ top rookies already had that planned out in case the NFL’s fortunes allowed them to get into the NFL scorebooks together.
“We talked about wanting to celebrate because it was both our first touchdowns,” Odunze said with a smile.
Sunday’s loss in Indianapolis was an early disappointment for the 2024 Bears, but the improved connection between their two young stars is a bright spot they can build on.
“I’ve told Rome I’m going to give him the ball a little bit more,” Williams said. “Some of the practice sessions, some of the after-practice sessions that Rome and I have had over the last couple of weeks, I think it’s paying off and we’re going to continue with it. Obviously I want to build that connection and have that trust and belief in each other.”
Odunze was happy to get into the stat sheet, but that’s not what the young Bears are after.
“Yeah, it’s always good to build that individual chemistry with him so I can be an asset to this offense,” Odunze said. “But if it’s not enough to get the W, it doesn’t feel good. But making those plays together and building on that is going to do us good as the season goes on.”
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