Vikings Fan Discovers Connection to the Chicago Bears New Coach

There’s a children’s song that says, “it’s a small world after all”, and this week I was reminded of that when I discovered I have a “connection” if you will, to the new Head Coach of the Chicago Bears, Ben Johnson. 

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Minnesota Vikings fans are all too acquainted with Johnson as he was until earlier this week the Offensive Coordinator for the Detroit Lions, and his offensive schemes caused the Vikings and their fans lots of heartburn. 

On Monday night, I was scrolling through Facebook when I noticed a fella I used to work with broadcasting high school football games in Asheville N.C. had posted a picture of himself with Ben Johnson when Johnson was on staff in Miami with the Dolphins. 

My friends post offered congratulations to Johnson, who, like me, is a native of Western North Carolina. But the post included something I had forgotten. Ben Johnson played football at A.C. Reynolds High School when I was broadcasting games there in the early 2000’s.

When Johnson was a junior in high school, he led the Rockets to a state championship. We covered at least five or six games that Johnson started that year. 

I had totally forgotten this fact. I’ve been blessed to call more than 50 high school games in three states along with a couple hundred college football, basketball, baseball and softball games since then, so I guess it should be understandable to forget a few names.  

Ben Johnson threw a touchdown pass in the 14-7 win back in 2002 on a night when he was 2-3 passing. He then went on to be a walk-on back-up quarterback at the University of North Carolina.  

Here’s another twist to the story. Also on that same team in 2002 was country singer Chase Rice. He co-wrote the song “Cruise” that was performed by Florida Georgia line. 

But the celebrity parallels don’t end there. A.C. Reynolds High School is the same high school that country star Luke Combs graduated from in 2008, and current Dallas Cowboy Running Back Rico Dowdle is also an alum as well.  

So, like I said in the beginning, it’s a small world after all. It was a nice memory to discover this week, but it’s still not going to be enough to have me become a Bears fan.