The Chicago Bears were one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL during the 2024 season. Chicago finished the regular season 5-12 and at the bottom of the NFC North division standings. The Bears fired Matt Eberflus after Thanksgiving and now is on the hunt for a new head coach.
Now it seems that some pranksters are using that reality to mess with some Bears players.
Bears QB Caleb Williams explained on the St. Brown Podcast what happened when a fake Ben Johnson reached out to him on Saturday.
“I'm going to explain this situation,” Williams began. “I reached out to Amon-Ra and I was not asking, I asked Amon-Ra for Ben's number. Like obviously I was not going to save his numbers because he's not our coach. I wasn't going to do all of that. I was asking because I wanted to make sure it wasn't because obviously so many fake numbers nowadays. I was asking him so I could see if it matches his number. Amon-Ra does Amon-Ra things and doesn't text back.”
“No that's not what happened bro,” St. Brown responded. St. Brown then explained his side of the story. He said that Caleb asked what Johnson's number is because he had “fake dudes hitting him up pretending to be Ben.” St. Brown initially brushed this off as a joke from Williams.
“He thinks I'm trying to play a joke but I'm being dead ass,” Williams explained.
St. Brown then said he finished dinner and checked his phone 20 minutes later. He found a text saying “it's all good, I called and it wasn't him.” from Williams. The story was all over social media less than an hour after that moment.
Williams claimed that the text fooled him because it looked so official.
“The text was so official, like I've gotten that text from college coaches and other coaches before getting drafted and all of that,” Williams concluded. “So it looked mad professional.
Ben Johnson the betting favorite to become next Bears head coach

It is hard to blame Caleb Williams for being fooled by that fake text message. Aside from the text seeming real, Johnson joining the Bears is a real possibility.
Johnson is currently the betting favorite to become the next Bears head coach on multiple sportsbooks. Other coaches in the mix include Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury, Lions DC Aaron Glenn, and Vikings DC Brian Flores.
It is easy to believe there will be other candidates in play for Chicago as well. GM Ryan Poles hinted last week that the Bears may interview some names “that will surprise you.” This makes it sound like the Bears will have an exhaustive search for their next head coach.
Johnson has been the most coveted head coaching candidate in the NFL over the past three years. That has not changed this offseason.
Johnson helped turn the Lions into one of the most dangerous offensive teams in all of football. He helped design a system that maximizes Jared Goff. As a result, many Bears fans like the idea of hiring him because of what he could do to help the development of Caleb Williams.
It will be fascinating to see if Chicago is at the top of Ben Johnson's list of new destinations later this offseason.