Ben Johnson Had Blunt One-Liner on His Cheeky Fly-By Handshake With Matt LaFleur

Ben Johnson has quickly become a polarizing figure in his debut year with the Bears after his viral antics Saturday when Chicago beat Green Bay in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

Johnson had the most priceless look on his face as he met up with Packers coach Matt LaFleur at midfield for the customary coaches handshake, shaking LaFleur’s hand for barely a second before going off to celebrate with his team.

Johnson had just won his first ever playoff game in Chicago, capping off an instantly iconic comeback victory that will go down in franchise postseason lore—and against a fierce NFC North rival to boot. Despite the magnitude of the occasion, some fans took to social media to air their grievances about the childish way Johnson acted toward one of his coaching peers.

When asked Monday whether there was anything “personal” to his rivalry with LaFleur, given his past trolling comments and usually brief postgame handshakes with the Green Bay coach, Johnson sent his critics a clear message:

“This is a rivalry. The city of Chicago, Green Bay—it needs to be a rivalry,” Johnson simply said.

“It’s a big game, first playoff game at home in a while, we hadn’t won a playoff game in 15 years or so, but certainly the opponent in and of itself, it means a lot to this city and this organization,” continued Johnson. “That’s something we certainly play into a little bit as coaches and players, we know how big it is when Chicago plays Green Bay.”

#Bears HC Ben Johnson on if there's something personal between him and Matt LaFleur:

“This is a rivalry. The city of Chicago, Green Bay — it needs to be a rivalry.” 🔥 https://t.co/R5z3HmENnV pic.twitter.com/9GK6PTyZxa
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 12, 2026

Johnson also addressed his viral locker room video in which he cursed out the Packers following the 31-27 win.

“Like I said before, there’s a rivalry that exists between these two teams, something that I fully recognize and that I’m a part of. I just don’t like that team. George [McCaskey] and I talked, and we’re on the same page,” Johnson said.

It seems pretty clear that Johnson harbors no regrets about enthusiastically celebrating his win over his divisional foes and dropping a few F-bombs at LaFleur’s expense. Anytime the Bears and Packers play each other in the foreseeable future is going to be must-see cinema.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ben Johnson Had Blunt One-Liner on His Cheeky Fly-By Handshake With Matt LaFleur.

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