By John Rigolizzo
Caleb Williams gave Chicago Bears fans a free postgame snack.
The Wieners Circle, a well-known Chicago hot dog stand, offered free hot dogs to patrons on Tuesday if Williams threw four touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Williams did, leading the Bears to a 31-14 win. Williams was asked about it after the game.
“Have you ever been to The Wieners Circle?” a reporter asked Williams at his postgame press conference.
“I have not, but I’ve heard about this four-touchdown thing,” Williams replied. “Is that what you’re talking about? Yeah. Congrats everybody. You got free hot dogs.”
The Wieners Circle posted the deal on Friday.
“If Caleb throws 4 TDs on Sunday, we will give away free hot dogs on Tuesday,” the stand wrote on X.
The Bears responded from their official X account with a GIF of Williams making a beckoning gesture with his hands.
Williams may not have known about the free hot dog promotion, but he put on a show for the home crowd at Soldier Field on Sunday. His first touchdown came with 10:35 left in the first quarter. On 3rd and 8, Williams dropped back from the shotgun and launched a pass down the sideline to wide receiver Rome Odunze, who had a step on cornerback Trevon Diggs and coasted into the end zone to take a 7-0 lead.
With 4:18 left in the first, Williams handed the ball off to running back D’Andre Swift. Swift tossed it back to him on a flea-flicker, and Williams heaved another deep ball to rookie wideout Luther Burden III, who had already slipped through the secondary and scooted past safety Malik Hooker to expand the lead to 14-3.
His third touchdown closed the first half, when he found tight end Cole Kmet all alone in the back of the end zone.
His fourth touchdown came with 9 seconds left in the third quarter. On 4th and goal, Williams scrambled out of pressure to his right, then tossed one back across his body to wide receiver D.J. Moore, who was also by himself in the back of the end zone.
The second-year signal-caller finished his afternoon 19 of 28 for 298 yards and four scores. He added five runs for 12 yards. Burden was the team’s leading receiver with three catches for 101 yards and his TD; Odunze also had three receptions for 62 yards and a score; Swift had three catches for 45 yards; wide receiver Olamide Zacchaeus had three catches for 24 yards. Tight end Colston Loveland had a single, 31-yard reception. Moore had four catches for 21 yards and a TD. Kmet’s 10-yard touchdown was his only reception on the day. Running back Kyle Monangai added a reception for 4 yards.
After it happened, the stand tagged Vienna Beef on X, the company that manufactures the hot dogs used by popular hot dog eateries throughout the Windy City.
“Oh [expletive]! @ViennaBeef want to chip in? lol,” the stand wrote.
On Monday, The Wieners Circle revealed how the free hot dogs promo came about. The stand quoted a post by a pseudonymous X user, who tweeted that if Miami Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon II scored a touchdown at any point during the Dolphins’ game against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday, he would text his ex-girlfriend, who was getting married on Saturday. The Wieners Circle called for other companies to make similar wagers with their customers.
Male grooming company Manscaped jumped into a thread, prompting the stand to issue a challenge to the brand that if the Bears made the playoffs, the company’s CEO would shave his entire body except for his eyebrows.
Finally, on Monday, the stand posted a picture on X of a sign advertising the free hot dogs.
Aside from Williams’ individual performance, the Bears dominated in all three phases on their way to the first win of the young season. The defense held Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott to 251 yards passing and a single touchdown, while forcing three interceptions by Prescott and backup Joe Milton III. Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson recovered a fumble as well. They also minimized the damage done by former All-Pro and Pro Bowl return specialist KaVontae Turpin did on special teams.
“I think on all three phases, I think it builds confidence for us, as a team and as an organization to be able to go out here and win these games and feel confident about who we’ve got on this field,” Williams said.
