Last season, Chicago Bears’ head coach Ben Johnson caused an uproar over a postgame handshake. Following the Bears’ win against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Wild Card game, Johnson and Packers’ head coach Matt LaFleur shared a brief postgame handshake. After the big comeback win, Johnson was ready to go celebrate with the team.
The clip spread around the league with many people claiming Johnson was disrespectful and unsportsmanlike towards LaFleur. It was rumored that the move from Johnson did not go over well around the league.
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ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith claimed that friends of Matt LaFleur disliked Ben Johnson.
However, Johnson has made his stance on the situation clear: the Bears and Packers should not like each other, and the rivalry is stronger than ever.
This week, Ryan Poles spoke to that mindset, touching on Johnson’s approach to reigniting the Bears-Packers rivalry during an appearance on CHGO’S Hoge & Jahns podcast hosted by Adam Hoge and Adam Jahns.
“Ben’s like, screw it, we’re just going to take this head on and take this rivalry over, and we’re not going to be scared to talk about it,” Poles said.
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Poles named that Johnson is exactly what this organization needed, adding, “That’s what you want to play for. You want to play for a guy that’s not scared, that’s aggressive and someone that wants to compete. It raises the level of both organizations to be completely honest with you.”
Who would’ve thought a simple postgame handshake could spark that much controversy across the NFL?
Regardless, Johnson hasn’t given it any attention.
In a sit-down this past week with Bears beat reporter Herb Howard, Johnson was asked directly about the reaction surrounding the handshake.
Johnson didn’t hesitate: “I didn’t come into this league or take this position to necessarily make friends.”
Johnson’s focus is clear. He’s locked in on one thing: building a championship-caliber football team.
