(670 The Score) Bears head coach Ben Johnson has called the Chicago area home for less than a year. Given his demanding schedule, there hasn't been much time to take in the city or visit with fans.
But Johnson knows well what the Bears mean to Chicago – and he wants the city to be important for his team. It’s why he took on the dare from a local institution, The Wieners Circle, and ripped his shirt off in the victorious visiting locker room at Lincoln Financial Field following the Bears' 24-15 win over the Eagles on Friday.
And with that, the Wieners Circle has vowed to offer free hot dogs to customers.
"Any chance you get to feed a city, you want to do it,” Johnson said Monday. “Man of the people."
The Lincoln Park-based Wieners Circle offered free hot dogs in September when Bears quarterback Caleb Williams met their challenge of throwing four touchdown passes in a 31-14 win against the Cowboys.
In October, the Wieners Circle pledged more free hot dogs if Johnson went shirtless while celebrating a win.
Johnson initially resisted the idea when it was presented, but he was inspired by Chicago's significant win in Philadelphia on Friday.
“That was a spur of the moment deal, I guess,” Johnson said. “But I figured the sooner the better because I’m not in the weight room very much anymore so this (physique) keeps getting a little bit worse as we go along in the season. It was good. I hate to draw attention away from our players, but the intent was to bring up the city of Chicago and hopefully it gave them a little 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.
“My wife was just laughing. I guess my 2-year-old was watching the TV screen at home and she was pointing at the screen, ‘no shirt, no shirt.’ My wife had no idea what was going on. That’s really about how that went.”
The Wieners Circle hasn't issued the date for its free hot dogs, nor has it presented a next challenge for the Bears.
There certainly could be more inspiration ahead. After all, the Bears (9-3) hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC North ahead of ahead of their showdown against the Packers (8-3-1) next Sunday at Lambeau Field.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.