Ben Johnson joins the Chicago Bears, and NFC North fans are losing it

Bears Nation was not psyched when the team inked Matt Eberflus as their head coach. Same deal with Matt Nagy, John Fox, and Marc Trestman.

They were kinda-sorta happy when Lovie Smith was brought into the fold, but that was mostly due to the fact that Smith was replacing the justifiably maligned Dick Jauron.

But all of those questionable hires will forgiven—not forgotten, just forgiven—if new headman Ben Johnson turns the Bears’ offense into a Detroit Lions-esque juggernaut.

Happy Ben Johnson Day to all that celebrate! #Bears pic.twitter.com/gCNEvb1vqF
— Chicago State of Mind Sports (@ChiStateOfMind_) January 22, 2025

Chicago’s rivals, however, aren’t at all pleased. Not one bit.

Bears Haters Hath Spoken

Bears fans don’t like the Green Bay Packers. Packers fans don’t like the Minnesota Vikings. Vikings fans don’t like the Detroit Lions. Et cetera. Et cetera. Et cetera.

A good thing for your fave NFC North franchise is a bad thing for the rest of the division, so it’s little surprise that there’s a significant anti-Bears, anti-Johnson faction doing some hardcore kvetching about Chicago’s shiny new coach on social media:

I hate the @ChicagoBears even more. I hope Ben Johnson is the new Adam Gase.
— Jake Schulz (@jdschulz29) January 22, 2025

Just gotta get off my chest how much I hate Ben Johnson going to the Bears.

I know he’s a grown man and should do whatever is best for him and his family, but there’s no way I would go from being a hero forever in Detroit to a villain overnight
— The Degenerate (@TheDegenWeekly) January 22, 2025

Caleb about to make ben Johnson hate footballl
— Myles (@MylesII7) January 22, 2025

Listened to Ben Johnson’s press conference with the Bears. Did he just mention wanting an offense like John Shoops? Does he not know how much hate Bears fans have for John Shoop?
— Craig Paglini (@craig_paglini) January 22, 2025

A Bittersweet Tweet

Lions QB Jared Goff—who Johnson helped turn into an MVP candidate—threw in his two cents:

Ok this makes me hate Ben Johnson a little less. This was nice. pic.twitter.com/5JToqEAmu5
— Jared Goff 🏆 (@jaredgoffcharts) January 22, 2025

Goff, of course, is pretending to hate his former offensive coordinator. For Packers, Vikings, and Lions fans, however, the hate is real. Very, very real.