All eyes will be on Caleb Williams next season as he enters his rookie season in the NFL, but it’s nothing he isn’t used to already.
The former USC star quarterback won the 2022 Heisman Trophy and entered last football season as one of the most marketable athletes in college football at one of the sport’s biggest brands.
While he’s used to being in the limelight, he’s kept his personal life extremely private.
In October 2020, Williams and Valery Orellana became Instagram official, sharing a since-deleted post of the two of them headed off to prom together. Williams attended Gonzaga College High School, while Orellana went to Richard Montgomery High School 16 miles away.
One month later, Orellana shared a photo via her Instagram Story from an Oklahoma football game, where Williams began his career. (He transferred to the University of Southern California in 2021.)
They were seemingly still together in September 2022 when Orellana was tagged in an Instagram photo at a USC football game. The photo was presumably taken the week before when Williams made his home debut for the Trojans against Rice. USC played a road game the day before the photo was posted.
Fast forward to April 2024, and Williams was teasing who he was bringing with him to the NFL Draft, writing: “Wait till yall see draft day suit and my ladies dress. 1 of 1s 😆.”
When he arrived on the red carpet on April 25, he went public with a new lady love — Alina Thyregod.
Caleb Williams leaving the hotel and heading to the NFL Draft pic.twitter.com/pJmUMJJ7m8
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) April 25, 2024
ESPN reported that the couple played Monopoly cards in their hotel room before heading to the venue in Detroit, Michigan. The Chicago Bears subsequently selected Williams to be the No. 1 pick.
“It’s a big moment, but I’ll definitely be happy,” Williams told Today ahead of the broadcast. “It’s a long time for an even longer time to come. So I’m ready. I’m ready for the moment and ready to be welcomed onstage in my suit and have a blast.”
He added that he didn’t expect to get too emotional. “I didn’t cry at the Heisman [ceremony]. Normally I cry after losses and big, big championship games and things like that. … But all the emotions on the field that you see, I probably won’t have those. Those are normally a bunch of adrenaline, a bunch of 60 minutes of kicking somebody’s tail.”