There are certain professional athletes you just don't compare anybody to. Among them would be Denver Broncos legend John Elway, one of the all-time great players and a fixture on any ball knower's Mount Rushmore of NFL quarterbacks.
Of course, leave it to a former Raider like Howie Long to make an absolutely asinine and blasphemous comparison to John Elway for a young player who is still cutting his teeth in the league.
Long had the stones to go on live television and say that Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is for this generation what John Elway was for his generation. And just like toothpaste going back into its tube, those are words you can't put back in your mouth.
Howie Long compares Bears QB Caleb Williams to Broncos legend John Elway
Howie Long says Caleb Williams is the John Elway of this generation 👀 pic.twitter.com/FOqnXJ0f1P
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 30, 2025
You don't compare young quarterbacks to John Elway unless they are truly out there doing John Elway types of things for a consistent period of time. It was understandable for Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs to draw those comparisons early in his career, because he was to the Broncos what John Elway was to the Chiefs:
Completely dominant.
For Caleb Williams, who has not even put together a full season's worth of top-level play at this point, to be getting compared to a young John Elway? In some ways, you can understand it. But in reality, it's nothing but blasphemy coming from a Raider.
John Elway was a transcendental player in his time, a player you could truly say was a "generational" talent, a term that gets far too loosely thrown around these days.
And frankly, the timing of all of this is very odd. While Williams did his part to help the Bears beat the Eagles, and Chicago has had a great season overall, Elway did so much more to carry his early Broncos teams than Williams is doing for the Bears right now.
The Bears are the NFL's leader in takeaways. They have their running game rolling right now. Ben Johnson is calling great games.
It's not like Williams isn't out there making plays when his number is called, but it's nowhere near the same type of impact that John Elway made early on in his NFL career. The comparison is nothing but a hot take, and Howie Long needs to cool his jets for a moment.