Is Caleb Williams the Only Male Athlete to Wear Nail Polish? Bears QB’s Style Before Packers Game Goes Viral

Caleb Williams pulled up with matcha in one hand and matching nail polish on the other, and that small pregame detail became the loudest talking point of the night somehow. Cameras caught the Bears quarterback’s fingers before they caught his throws, and within minutes, social media was back in familiar territory.

The debate, as always, raged on whether painted nails belong on an NFL quarterback at all. That’s a discourse that isn’t new for Williams. It’s followed him since his college days at USC, when every close-up of his hands sparked the same questions about image, toughness, and what a quarterback is supposed to look like.

Williams has never backed down either. He started painting his nails during his final year of high school (Gonzaga College in 2020), inspired by his mother, a lifelong nail technician. He carried the habit straight into college football’s brightest spotlight.

“You gotta keep your hands fresh,” Williams once said. “This is where all the gold comes from.”

But the idea that Williams is alone in this doesn’t hold up. He’s simply the latest high-profile athlete to bump up against outdated expectations of masculinity in sports. Long before him, NBA icon Dennis Rodman painted his nails regularly and brushed off criticism as noise.

Dwyane Wade wore nail polish at his Basketball Hall of Fame induction, framing it as a sign of confidence rather than rebellion. In the current generation, NBA rookie Jared McCain and Olympic champion Noah Lyles have both made painted nails part of their public identity, using them as extensions of style and self-belief rather than statements meant to provoke.

Even in football, Williams isn’t breaking some sacred mold. Former Bears quarterback Justin Fields used to carry painted nails, and NFL legend Deion Sanders has long been open about his own nail care habits.

Across sports, MLB catcher signals are often enhanced with nail polish, and the Red Sox’s first baseman, Triston Casas, has worn it during games without it leading to a referendum on his toughness.

So when Williams shows up with matcha and a fresh coat of nail polish, it isn’t about distraction or defiance. The conversation around his nails says far more about lingering discomfort with athletes expressing individuality than it does about his grip on the football.