Why the Ben Johnson Effect is real
Chicago is currently the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Their head coach always knew a rebuild this size is bigger than one player.
He ripped off his shirt, flexed his muscles and earned free hot dogs for all with a rebel yell.
The Ben Johnson Experience has been a wild ride inside the Chicago Bears locker room. Most striking is the authenticity of the scene. For so long, videos produced by the team’s in-house media team were manufactured. Those being filmed felt as if they were acting a part. The Bears would have one set of draft meetings, for example, and then quite another to disperse to fans.
But this? This is real.
This whole “Good, Better, Best” call to arms wasn’t plucked from Page 147 of a How To Inspire Players textbook. Try too hard and pro athletes will read right through you. That’s why I can’t help but think back to what we heard about Johnson’s predecessor whenever these postgame celebrations air. Many of the 32 sources in our House of Dysfunction series stand by Matt Eberflus, the man. They enjoyed working for him. But a handful cannot help but recall the cringe. How he’d insist on coining corny nicknames like “Spidey” and “Mako Shark” and “Sandman” for players. One source on-hand thinks Eberflus lost a handful of vets his first meeting. (“High school shit. Quite frankly, I’d get more inspired by a high school coach.”)
In this sport, you can be an excellent offensive or defensive mind and still lose double the games you win because football forever requires something more.
An extremely low percentage of NFL head coaches even consider going shirtless after a win.
Everyone got Ben Johnson dead wrong through two coaching cycles.
Yes, those close to him were awestruck by his nose-to-the-grindstone drive. One described Johnson as more of a mad scientist who’d close and lock the door to his office. On the hunt for the perfect play for the perfect situation — back to his days as an anonymous Miami Dolphins assistant — he’d completely shut off the outside world and put in a ridiculous number of hours. But, this former co-worker wondered, how would he command a room?
Yes, X ‘n O innovation with the Detroit Lions catapulted Johnson to the top of Christmas wish lists for franchises.
But that’s not the reason the Chicago Bears enter December as the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
If Johnson wins NFL Coach of the Year this season, it’ll be for something else entirely.