During halftime of the Chicago Bears’ playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams tonight at Soldier Field, a close friend of Bears head coach Ben Johnson will perform: country music star Chase Rice.
The two have been friends since they were kids, so let’s revisit how they met and what they’ve had to say about their close bond.
How Did Ben Johnson and Chase Rice Meet?
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.”
Bears-Rams Preview
Chicago Bears
Playoff: Chicago has made the conference championship game three times since winning the Super Bowl during the 1985 season. They are 1-2 in those games, with the only win during the 2006 season.
Team: The Bears outscored the Green Bay Packers 25-6 in the fourth quarter of the Wild Card game. For the season, Chicago ranked fifth in point differential during the fourth quarter and overtime. They ranked second in fourth quarter/overtime points scored and 30th in points allowed after the third quarter during the regular season.
QB: Including playoffs, Caleb Williams has 12 touchdown passes in the fourth quarter/overtime. That is the second most behind Matthew Stafford’s 16. However, Williams has only completed 55.2% of his fourth quarter/overtime, which is 30th in the league.
OFF: In the last three games, Colston Loveland caught 24 passes for 322 yards and two touchdowns, compared to 42 catches for 528 yards and four touchdowns in the first 14 games.
DEF: The Bears had six games in which they committed at least three takeaways, tying them with Jacksonville for the most in the league; Chicago won all six games. The Bears led the NFL with 33 takeaways.
Model: 10.1% chance of winning Super Bowl in PFSN’s model
Los Angeles Rams
Playoff: Sean McVay’s Rams are 1-2 in the Divisional Round when playing the week before. The only season Los Angeles won the second playoff game after winning the Wild Card was 2021, the year they won the Super Bowl.
Team: The Rams are 5-3 against teams that finished the season with a winning record. The three losses were by a combined ten points. Two of the losses were in overtime, and the third was against the Eagles when Los Angeles had a potential game-winning 44-yard field goal blocked on the final play.
QB: Matthew Stafford recorded a QBi score of 73.4 (C) against the Panthers last week, which was his second-lowest career score in a playoff game. It was the third-lowest score of the week, ahead of only Justin Herbert and Aaron Rodgers.
OFF: Since Week 7, the Rams have scored 24 or more points in ten of 11 games. The only exception was a 21-19 win against the 49ers in Week 10. The Rams led the NFL with the best OFFi (92.3, A-) during the regular season.
DEF: Through Wild Card Weekend, the Rams are tied with the Jaguars with ten games in which they forced multiple turnovers. Los Angeles has won nine of the ten games, including its victory last week against the Carolina Panthers. The Chicago Bears have had nine such games and are 9-0 when having at least two takeaways.
Model: 14.7% chance of winning Super Bowl in PFSN’s model
