Pat McAfee has made it no secret that he has quite the affinity for Ben Johnson's Chicago Bears, this season, as fans have heard and watched him heap loads of praise upon them all year long.
After the Bears' dismantling of the Cleveland Browns last week, McAfee had more to say. On his latest podcast episode, McAfee talked about the Bears' mental toughness and, primarily, where it stems from.
"It feels like the Bears' mental toughness that is 'good, better, best, never let it rest, until your good is better and better is best' from Ben Johnson has settled in completely," McAfee noted on the air.
Johnson's message is strong with this Bears team
In a sports world where plenty of analysts and pundits love to spin things negatively, McAfee took the opposite approach. So many times, this year, we have heard how the Bears could be frauds or that their schedule has been favorable.
Quite honestly, pick a spin. Just pick one, because the national and even some local media have gone bonkers with negativity. It's what they do. Yet, no one seems to be talking a whole lot about what McAfee mentioned.
Mental toughness.
It's visible, and it's something we can credit straight to Johnson. Don't let anybody forget that, from the jump, Johnson was all about hard work and getting the most out of his players. It sounds somewhat cliché, and it's what every coach should be doing.
But, Johnson said what he meant, and he meant what he said. This season has proven as much. His mantra is as unforgettable as any in this league. It's become a battle cry for Bears fans -- something this fan base hasn't had for a while.
The way this team has finished games, though, speaks volumes to what McAfee was trying to say. His point is 100 percent valid. The Bears are, indeed, a mentally tough franchise, all thanks to Johnson. And, that's something Bears fans didn't think they'd be able to say for a very long time.
Seeing the past few head coaches fail to instill grit in the locker room had just allowed fans to get used to the team coming up short in the mental-toughness department. But what Johnson has done is nothing short of impressive in less than one year.
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Speaking of which, it's pretty frightening, if you're an NFC North foe, to think about how much better Caleb Williams and these Bears will be in a year or two.