The Chicago Cubs played an important part in Ben Johnson joining Chicago Bears

During Ben Johnson's introductory press conference on Wednesday, the newly hired Chicago Bears coach revealed that he had strong ties to the city and the Chicago Cubs long before he was hired on Monday.

The 38-year-old said that one of the many reasons he wanted the Bears' coaching gig was to raise his family in Chicago, where he has been attending an annual Cubs' series with his family for the last decade plus.

“There’s several reasons why I wanted this job,” Johnson said in the press conference. “The first is this place — for the last 10-plus years, my family and I have been coming up for a Cubs series every summer and it doesn’t take long to realize that this place is special."

New Chicago Bears' head coach is winning over Chicago Cubs fans.

But Johnson's ties to the Cubs go even deeper. During an afternoon radio hit on ESPN 1000's Carmen and Jurko show, Johnson revealed that he and his younger brother have been Cubs fans since they were kids. Johnson recalled coming home from school in the 90s and tuning into WGN to watch players like Ryne Sandberg, Mark Grace and later Sammy Sosa, contributing to a lifelong love affair with the team.

"We followed it almost every single day that it was on," Johnson said.

Johnson also revealed that his brother put his name on the team's season ticket list after graduating High School. After years of waiting, Johnson's brother still apparently has season tickets to this day, resulting in a yearly trip to Chicago for the Johnson family.

"We started making that a family tradition every year to go out to Chicago, we would stay downtown, we would stay in Wrigleyville, and everywhere in between, we loved that trip," Johnson said. "It was a great time for me and my family but we just fell in love with the city as well."

The Bears hiring Johnson from the division rival Detroit Lions is reminiscent of the Cubs' big coaching move from last offseason, where they were able to poach manager Craig Counsell away from the Milwaukee Brewers. Both men are seen as intelligent strategic minds in their respective fields and the Cubs and Bears paid premium money to have them run their teams. We'll see if the results start to show up on the field for both teams in a pivotal and promising 2025 season in Chicago.