Country music star Chase Rice will perform at halftime of Sunday’s Divisional Round matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, and he has an interesting connection to the team. Let’s break down Rice’s ties to Bears head coach Ben Johnson and why this performance is pretty special for the musician.
Breaking Down Chase Rice’s Connection to Bears HC Ben Johnson
While Rice is known as a country music star, Johnson knew him long before his name was in bright lights. After all, Rice and Johnson were football teammates in middle school and high school, and then eventually became college roommates.
Rice and Johnson first crossed paths in middle school when they were teammates in Fairview, North Carolina. By the time they reached A.C. Reynolds High School, Rice was a star linebacker ranked among the top 25 players in the state, while Johnson was the team’s quarterback. The two helped lead the Rockets to a 4A state championship.
“We weren’t allowed to ever mess the quarterback up [in practice],” Rice told the Bears’ official website. “So I never got a good pop on Ben, but you bet I would have if I’d gotten that opportunity.”
Both players went on to the University of North Carolina, where they were roommates for all four years. Rice played linebacker and believed he belonged on an NFL roster before a devastating ankle injury derailed those ambitions. Johnson, who walked on as a quarterback, eventually pivoted to coaching after his playing days ended.
Their paths diverged dramatically from there. Rice competed on “Survivor: Nicaragua” and finished as runner-up, worked as a pit crew member for Hendrick Motorsports, and built a country music career that includes co-writing Florida Georgia Line’s diamond-certified monster hit “Cruise” and scoring two No. 1 singles at country radio with “Eyes on You” and “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.”
Johnson climbed the coaching ranks from entry-level positions with the Miami Dolphins to tight ends coach and offensive coordinator with the Detroit Lions before landing the Bears job last offseason.
The friendship never faded. Rice visited Johnson in Miami when he was getting his start. He’s spent more than $2,000 on eBay buying vintage Bears gear since Johnson took the Chicago job. This fall, Rice set up a Starlink connection in his truck while hunting in Montana just to watch Bears games on the side of rural roads.
“I have the Bears schedule in my calendar,” Rice said. “That’s never happened for an NFL team. That wouldn’t even happen for college teams.”
The “Good. Better. Best.” rallying cry that Johnson leads after every Bears win traces back to their high school coach Bobby Poss. Rice adopted it for his concert tours 13 years ago, using it as a pre-show ritual with his band.
When Rice performed at The Salt Shed in Chicago last June, Johnson and his wife Jessica watched from the tour bus as Rice led the familiar chant. Three months later, Johnson introduced it to the Bears locker room after their first win of the season.
“I was on my tour bus, actually, the first time I ever saw Ben do it,” Rice said. “And my jaw just dropped. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, he just did that.’ And the cool part was it wasn’t half-assed. It was these freaking millionaire football player men doing a chant that started with a kids game in high school.”
Sunday marks Rice’s second Bears game this season. He attended the Dec. 14 win over Cleveland. The halftime performance is a full-circle moment for two middle-school friends who have achieved their wildest dreams.
“To see him come up through the ranks — I visited him down in Miami when he was the lowest guy on the totem pole there, and then he works his way up to tight ends coach down there and then tight ends coach in Detroit before he got the offensive coordinator job,” Rice told Bears.com. “It wasn’t surprising at all — it’s just, you never expect a guy to get a head coaching job. Those guys are always people you don’t know. But it’s really, really cool. I’m really proud of him to be where he’s at. It’s very well deserved.”
Johnson, preparing for the biggest game of his first season as a head coach, kept his comments brief but warm when asked about Rice’s halftime appearance.
“He’s a good friend of mine,” Johnson told reporters on Friday. “We grew up together, middle school, high school, college. We’ve stayed friendly throughout. He came to a game earlier this season and has been a tremendous supporter. So, pretty excited to hear he’ll be coming to town this week.”
Rice, a self-described convert to the “Cardiac Bears,” will be performing at halftime as Chicago looks to build off last week’s win over Green Bay.
Prior to kickoff, Jim Cornelison will sing the national anthem.
