CALEB WILLIAMS-the quarterback of a resurgent University of Southern California football team, and quite suddenly the pride and joy of Los Angeles-steps off a tinted-window party bus in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. His path is cleared by a pack of thick-necked and wide-hipped young men with varyingly successful beards, his 17 offensive linemen. His presence speaks to the only-in-LA life afforded to a quarterback who makes USC great: The Dodgers have invited Williams to throw out the game's first pitch. Later this summer, the team will hand out thousands of Caleb Williams bobbleheads-an honor granted only to an elite roster of non-baseball luminaries, including Elton John, Hello Kitty, and Billie Jean King.
Williams is still a few weeks from commencing his junior season, but anticipation is building as the Trojans prepare to resume one of the most-talked-about restoration projects in college football: returning USC to the glory its fans feel is their birthright. Progress is well underway. The Trojans went 4-8 in 2021, the year before Williams joined the squad. The ugly record followed years of mediocrity and occasioned a dramatic overhaul. The school dangled a contract rumored to be worth $110 million to lure Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley, perhaps the game's preeminent quarterback builder, who then promptly extended an invitation to Williams-who'd spent his freshman year playing for Riley in Norman-to transfer West and become a star in LA. Last season, they led a frankly stunning turnaround, compiling an 11-3 record, a microwaved return to the team's glory days, when USC used to tussle with the Lakers and Dodgers for LA sports supremacy. What typically takes years happened in a flash.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2023-Ausgabe von GQ US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2023-Ausgabe von GQ US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
SHABOOZEY THE BIG SHA BANG
Shaboozey spent months at the tippy-top of the charts with a hit song about dealing with hard times the easy way: by hitting the bar. He sang on a couple songs with Beyoncé too. So we asked the one and only SHANIA TWAIN to help country's biggest new star make sense of his explosive year.
HANNAH EINBINDER BORN STANDING UP
With her star turn on Hacks, the comic turned actor has established herself as one of Hollywood's most exciting young talents-much to her own surprise.
Katt Williams The Man Who Opened The Portal
In January, the comic delivered an instantly iconic podcast interview that threw pop culture into crisis-and seemed to predict all manner of messy celebrity gossip to come. At home on his farm, Williams explains why he said what he said— and why he'd do it again, and again, and again....
JOHN DAVID & MALCOLM WASHINGTON A NEW HOLLYWOOD DYNASTY
The Washington brothers built their careers apart—until an irresistible project drew them together. In The Piano Lesson, they tackle a father's thorny legacy.
FUTURE & METRO BOOMIN'S HISTORIC Hit STREAK
What happens when the best rapper alive reunites with the hottest producer of the moment? You get a back-to-back-to-back run unlike any since the Beatles.
PHARRELL WILLIAMS Designer of the Year
Riding along from Paris to Hollywood to New York with the Louis Vuitton *men's creative director, whose prolific and often prophetic contributions to fashion, film, and music have once again thrust him to the center of the pop culture Venn diagram.
JOHN MULANEY. KID GORGEOUS GROWS UP
After immortalizing the whirlwind of the past four yearsrelapse, intervention, recovery-in his awardwinning standup special, John Mulaney has emerged as one of the most popular comedians on earth. For his next trick, he's embracing his surprising new role as a suburban dad.
DWAYNE JOHNSON THE WORLD'S BIGGEST Actor
It's hard for Dwayne Johnson to hide. Wherever he goes, there he is― as conspicuous out in the world as he is on the silver screen. But after two decades of playing a version of himself in huge movies, suddenly Dwayne Johnson is ready to do something entirely new: vanish.
How the WNBA Became the Most Fun, Complicated, and Exciting League in Sports
Caitlin Clark! A'ja Wilson! Angel Reese! This year, women's hoops emerged as a dominant popcultural force. But the road to sports-league supremacy has been long and winding. This is the inside story of how the W finally broke through.
A Companion for Your Wrist
Audemars Piguet's new release with artist Brian Donnelly, a.k.a. KAWS, brings high-art hype to the world of pop-watch collabs.
