Caleb Williams Is Fair Game To Criticize, And It's Embarrassing To Pretend Otherwise | David Hookstead

Caleb Williams isn't a member of a protected class that shields him from criticism, and I'm not going to pretend he should get special treatment.

There's a very bizarre narrative many like to push that Williams is "just a kid," and thus, his behavior is somehow excusable and not allowed to be criticized at all. This narrative, yet again, has surfaced after Williams appeared to be wearing pink nail paint and possibly wearing pink lip gloss at a USC women's basketball game.

He denied it, but you can see the moment in question in the tweet below and decide for yourself.

Caleb Williams isn't a child.

What we do know for sure is that Williams has worn nail paint many times in the past, including nail paint featuring vulgar messages.

Would anyone reading this be allowed to show up to their job wearing f-bombs on their nails? My guess is no. Yet, if you even think about criticizing Williams, the sheep in the media circle the wagons and try to convince people he's just a child having fun.

After all, why can't he just have his fun? Kyle Brandt, a guy I thought was smart, suggested that if you find Williams' behavior weird, that you must be homophobic. Does Brandt know something the rest of us don't? RGIII went even as far to say men should paint their nails like Williams.

To quote the great Lane Kiffin, "What f*cking world do you live in?"

Here's the reality of the situation. Caleb Williams is 22 years old, and he should be held to the same standards that any other adult in America is held to.

Yet, he's not? He's always shielded from criticism with the predictable line about him just being a kid. Since when did being 22 make you a kid? It's the same braindead logic we saw after Brandon Miller drove a car carrying a handgun later used to kill a woman in Tuscaloosa. He was just a kid, right? How could he have known better? Wrong, but Williams is shielded by a similar mindset.

He runs his mouth like he wants to be the top dog, and then sobs his eyes out in his mother's arms after losing. If you point that out, you're apparently just going after a kid. He paints f-bombs on his nails, behaves like an emotional teenager and does anything he can for attention. The former USC QB has opened the door to criticism, and as an adult man, he should get it. That's not to say he can't do whatever he wants. He absolutely can. This is America, but freedom of choice doesn't mean freedom from judgment.

Williams should be held to the same standard as other adults.

The thing that really boils my blood here is that no other 22-year-old that I can think of gets this kind of treatment. Why is the multi-millionaire projected first overall pick allowed the protections of being a child years after turning 18 but nobody else is?

My uncle Connie flew on a bomber in WWII when he was Caleb Williams age. His plane was shot to hell on a bombing mission deep into Nazi held Austria, and they had to essentially limp it to Yugoslavia to dump it. He earned his first Distinguished Flying Cross. Was he an adult man or just a kid? He died in Korea after getting shot down on a bombing run deep into the north. Was there anyone with a megaphone shouting that Connie was just a kid who shouldn't have been held to an insanely high standard? No, and Connie is dead.

How about the 22-year-old men on Omaha Beach crawling through cold sand as German machine gun fire blew apart what was their best friend's face moments before? Just kids or adult men?

I know several people who fought in Black Hawk Down - one of which I consider a good friend. They washed blood, guts and the brain matter of guys they ate breakfast with that morning out of the back of humvees before going back out into the city. Many men there were younger than Williams is now. Just kids or adult men held to a high standard?

And yes, I understand that playing football and going to war and watching your friends die isn't the same thing, but that's the point. Caleb Williams is a football player. He lives the cushiest life imaginable and makes millions of dollars, and he's the guy the media decides to protect at all costs. We used to ask men to carry rifles into war and they were expected to show every single day and conduct themselves in a fashion that represented the stakes. Caleb Williams wears nail paint, and we're not allowed to judge the multi-millionaire QB. In what world does that make sense?

Let's take a step back and look at a different comparison. I grew up in Randolph, Wisconsin. It's a very poor working class community. I'm proud of where I come from, and I think the people there are great. However, the reality that it's poor can't be denied. The median household income is well under $60,000 and that's doing much better from where it was. Actual kids I grew up with had to take jobs just to help their parents pay the bills. I don't remember anyone arguing "they're just kids" who shouldn't have any responsibilities in life or be shielded from criticism when they display poor judgment. I guess they should have just chosen to be adult QBs with millions in the bank.

You know what my grandfather (RIP) was doing at 22? Building a farm empire without anyone interested in helping him. He was born into the kind of poverty that literally doesn't exist anymore in this country, and he was held to an incredibly high standard because people depended on him. There were no "he's just a kid" excuses.

Why is it that Dwight Hookstead was expected to conduct himself as a man open to criticism at 22, but Caleb Williams - an adult man who will be entrusted with a multi-billion dollar franchise - shouldn't be criticized because he's just a kid? It makes no sense, and the media should be embarrassed.

As Deion Sanders said, "You want to be paid like a professional, but you want to be treated like a child. That don't work. If you want to be compensated like a pro, the media now gonna treat you like a pro."

He's 100% correct, but I guess the cowards in the media and some fans would prefer to dedicate their time to running cover for a millionaire athlete.

Caleb Williams is fair to criticize. (Photo by Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

If we ask young men every day in this country to live up to a standard of behavior and criticize them when they don't, then Caleb Williams should be treated no differently. I won't apologize for saying it. Let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.