Bears' Rome Odunze Had Hilarious Line About Throwing Ben Johnson to Ground After Win

Odunze got a bit excited when the Bears beat the Packers.
Rome Odunze knocked Bears coach Ben Johnson to the ground when celebrating the wild-card win.
Rome Odunze knocked Bears coach Ben Johnson to the ground when celebrating the wild-card win. / NFL/Screengrab

The Bears had a lot to celebrate on Saturday night. They came back to beat the Packers 31–27 in the wild-card round to mark their first playoff win in 15 years. And, they did so at home at Soldier Field.

Bears players were understandably hyped after the electric finish. Receiver Rome Odunze got a bit carried away in his celebration, though. As the Bears sideline was running out onto the field, Odunze grabbed coach Ben Johnson’s shirt and jumped up and down with him. However, this led to Johnson falling to the ground and almost doing a backwards somersault.

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It was a hilarious moment captured on video. Odunze told ESPN’s Courtney Cronin after the game that he apologized to his coach after accidentally knocking him to the ground amidst the chaos.

“I told him I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to knock him down like that. I was just excited. I thought he was a little bit more athletic than I was,” Odunze said while laughing. “That’s my bad. I got a little too excited, but no, that’s my guy. I didn’t mean to bring him down. I owe him something for that.”

Odunze couldn’t help it. Saturday marked his first playoff performance in his young career. Odunze had missed the last five games of the season due of a foot injury, meaning he didn’t compete in the two Packers matchups. Beating Green Bay on Saturday added extra excitement for Odunze and the entire Bears' squad.


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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.