Ben Johnson’s decision to take off his shirt in the locker room following Friday’s win was a “spur-of-the-moment deal,” the Bears coach said Monday.
The move earned Chicagoans free hot dogs at The Wiener’s Circle on Tuesday. After giving away free hot dogs when Caleb Williams threw for at least three touchdowns in Week 3, the store offered more freebies if Johnson removed his shirt after a game.
Johnson joked that he wanted to take off his shirt while his body still looked good.
“I figured the sooner the better,” he said Monday. “I’m not in the weight room much anymore. This thing keeps getting a little bit worse as we go on in the season.”
Johnson showed a little remorse for, he said, taking attention away from his players after the Bears’ 24-15 win in Philadelphia. But he said getting Bears fans excited was a good side effect of him ripping off his shirt, which was captured by the team in a viral video.
🚨 SHIRTLESS BEN JOHNSON 🚨@ChicagoBears @NFLonPrime pic.twitter.com/aX8BJZA9In
— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2025
“The intent was to bring up the city of Chicago,” he said. “Hopefully it gave them a little bit of excitement, because they’re a big part of this journey as we’re going through the season, also. I wanted to bring attention to them.”
He said his 2-year-old daughter pointed to the television screen and declared “no shirt” when she saw him. His wife laughed at that.
“I think any time you get a chance to feed a city, you wanna do it,” he said with a smile. “Man of the people.”