Nobody knows what motivates every player and coach in the NFL. It differs from person to person. For some, it’s about paying back friends and family who sacrificed to get them there. For others, it is a desire to become one of the greatest ever to do it. For some, it’s about money. Then there are the select few who seem to be at their best when they’re proving everybody wrong. Michael Jordan was built that way. It appears the Chicago Bears’ new head coach, Ben Johnson, also has some of that mentality in him.
He’s never come out and said it, but the man holds a grudge. If you need one example, just look at his treatment of Brian Flores. The Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator has matched wits with him four times since 2023. In that span, Johnson’s offense has scored 30, 30, 31, and 31 points. Minnesota allowed 30 or more points in only three other games across those two seasons. Some may chalk this out to Johnson just being really good at his job.
In truth, he has beef with Flores. After all, one of the first things the man did after becoming head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2019 was fire Johnson.
Ben Johnson will finally get his moment in the spotlight.
Six years ago, that was Flores. He was the hot assistant coming from a highly successful organization in New England. Yet rather than retain some of the staff due to qualifications, which Ben Johnson had already done once before, he cleaned house. No opportunity was extended. Johnson had worked in Miami for close to a decade by that point. It was his home. Being summarily dismissed like that must’ve stung. He ended up in Detroit that same year, and everybody knows what happened afterward. Now, Johnson will have another chance to humiliate Flores, this time on national television while running his own team.
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