Bears coach breaks into spontaneous dance after easy win over Eagles

Ben Johnson performed an improvised version of the Stanky Legg dance upon entering the Chicago Bears locker room on Sunday night. The 40-year-old head coach wound his right arm, crossed it over his chest, and lunged forward to wobble his left knee while players waited for him at Soldier Field.

The celebration followed a 27-7 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. Third-string quarterback Case Keenum played in place of the injured Caleb Williams, helping the Bears dismantle the Eagles in a lopsided contest.

Johnson described the moment as a panic move. He said the players were waiting for him with high energy, leaving him unsure of how to respond. "Honestly, I had no idea," Johnson said. "Those guys were waiting for me like that, and so I didn't know what to do. That was a panic move is what it was."

The dance move, popularized by the 2008 song by the GS Boyz, involves shifting weight to one leg and rolling the extended leg in a loose circular motion. Johnson noted he remembered teammates performing the move during his high school years in the 2000s. His current rendition does not closely match the original choreography, but the effort generated laughter and cheers from the squad.

Right tackle Darnell Wright observed that Johnson’s technique is improving. "I [mess] with it," Wright said. "It's cool. I think the first one wasn't as good, but I think he's getting better week to week. He's improving.. He just got to keep at it."

This spontaneous celebration joins the "Good, Better, Best" chant, a tradition Johnson introduced from his high school days at A.C. Reynolds. That chant became a staple after early wins. The Stanky Legg first appeared as a team ritual after the Bears defeated the New England Patriots on Oct. 22. Cornerback Kyler Gordon called the new tradition "swaggy" and a "new staple."

The routine has evolved as the season progresses. After the Bears defeated the Seattle Seahawks in a previous game, Johnson added a stutter-step before launching into the dance. The team, currently with a 6-2 record, now anticipates the coach's choreography as a marker of victory. Wide receiver Rome Odunze described the moment as an "iconic thing" that makes the players happy.