The honor comes after Williams led the Bears to a flurry of comeback wins in 2025, spearheading the club’s worst turnaround in the NFC North. Williams put up 3,942 yards passing with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The QB’s sophomore season included numerous bullpen passes and furious comebacks. Williams’ most famous play came in the division loss to the Los Angeles Rams. On fourth down, trailing by seven with 27 seconds left, Williams made a back-to-back save and threw a touchdown pass to Cole Kmet to force overtime. The Bears fell in overtime, but the pass highlighted a lackluster season for the former No. 1 overall pick. It underscored that with Williams under center, the Bears are never out.
Williams said his Jumpman pose on the cover was a tribute to Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan.
“That was it. I was like everybody knew Air Jordan, the sunrise when he was doing Air Jordan with the horizon behind him,” Williams said. “I was like I want to recreate it, football, bring it back 30 years later, though many years later. We did this one and that one. [Iceman] clearly had to go for it. This had to be done. It was a really cool shoot.”