Mark Grote

Getting the respect level that you need from your teammates.

But I think he has that.

They can all see and they've all talked about over the course of the season how much he's grown.

Not from year one to year two.

I'm just talking about the growth from training camp at the start of year two, first year of Ben Johnson, to this point in the playoffs where his team's still playing for a chance to go to the Super Bowl.

I think Ben Johnson got a true reflection of his quarterback's growth under his leadership.

And understand this, Ben Johnson's been very successful as a play caller in the NFL.

But I thought that moment, not just the win, but what transpired in the locker room after is a distinct marker in his growth from being an offensive play caller to being a leader of men.

As a head coach, that was a big step forward, not just for Caleb Williams, but also the acknowledgement that Ben Johnson has now reached another level in his coaching journey.

All I could think about when I heard that was, sorry, Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron.

That's all I could think about.

Think about Caleb giving the head coach a game ball after what went on last year with that coaching staff and that quarterback and whether you want to believe the things that we read in the offseason, the Tyler Dunn piece that was written, the stuff which was documented pretty well in the Wickersham book.

and Carl Williams and everything that we're talking about because of last year.

It's amazing.

And I truly, like, I'm tired of mentioning those names, Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron, and I'm sure people are tired of hearing their names.

But that's what I thought of, that, oh, my God, like, he has gotten that quarterback to buy in.

And my guess, it's a tricky task to get Caleb Williams to buy in because he knows how good he is.

I also think it's a marker of one more thing, which we've now seen from two different places in a very short time span.

The organizational growth.

of both the bears and both the Cubs over the last week is something that you have to acknowledge the Cubs and their decision to pay real money to someone and look like a big market team and getting Alex Bregman for five years in the one 75.