Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams found himself at the center of a controversy this week after reposting a comment on X that referenced an antisemitic incident involving Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy — a repost that has drawn far less public criticism than similar incidents involving other forms of discrimination typically attract.
The episode began when Portnoy mocked Williams for reacting dramatically to a hamstring strain suffered during a game, calling him a “thespian” and comparing his response to what one might expect from a season-ending injury like a torn ACL. An MRI later confirmed the injury was a strain, not a tear, putting Williams on a week-to-week recovery timeline.
Williams responded by reposting a comment from an X user identified as Daemar, which read: “The guy that had a kid arrested and expelled from school for throwing pennies at him is calling someone else soft LMFAOOOOOO.” The repost drew 1.3 million views and 35,000 likes, with little pushback from media or fans.
The Mississippi Incident
The comment referenced an incident that took place in the fall of 2025 at Mississippi State University, where student Patrick McClintock was recorded shouting “F—k the Jews!” before throwing coins at Portnoy, who is Jewish. The American Jewish Committee has noted that coin-throwing directed at Jewish people is rooted in a long-standing antisemitic stereotype associating Jews with greed.
Portnoy posted video of the encounter at the time, condemning the student as a “loser” and speaking out about a rise in antisemitic incidents directed at him personally. McClintock was later arrested on an unrelated charge of disturbing the peace.
Despite that context, Williams’ repost framed Portnoy — the target of the antisemitic act — as someone whose past experience disqualified him from criticizing an athlete for being overly dramatic.
A Muted Response
Portnoy has since pushed back publicly, accusing Williams of spreading misinformation about him. He also extended something of an olive branch, writing that he would “not hold this against Caleb” and that he was “rooting for him and all of Chicago.”
I will not hold this against Caleb…I’m rooting for him and all of Chicago.
Requests for comment sent to the Bears and the NFL were not returned.
Observers have pointed out that the muted reaction stands in contrast to how other forms of discrimination are typically treated in the public square. When Texas quarterback Arch Manning laughed at a fabricated AI-generated meme depicting an ESPN reporter being slapped, he faced public pressure and issued an apology — even though the incident was not real. The antisemitic incident referenced in Williams’ repost, by comparison, was verified and documented on video, yet drew comparatively little scrutiny.
Portnoy, who has been an outspoken critic of cancel culture, appears to have chosen not to escalate the matter further. Many members of the public, meanwhile, seem unaware of the details of what took place in Starkville — or unmoved by them, seeing little wrong in Williams’ repost at all.
