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Before it echoed inside the walls of Soldier Field, before it lit a spark in the Chicago Bears locker room and moved a city built on grit, resilience, and hope, it started out East.
Ben Johnson’s now-renowned "Good, Better, Best" speech traveled first to the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, and came from the teachings of A.C. Reynolds High School head coach Bobby Poss.
"When I first heard ‘Good, Better, Best,’ that was by coach Richard Bell," Poss said. "He did it at a fellowship of Christian athletes camp. So, it’s kind of catchy and I liked it, but it became the needy that replaced the school song with ‘Good, Better, Best.’"
What they're saying:
While its true origin is unknown, Poss was the first to carry the chant to Reynolds High School.
"They've got all kinds of rumors of where it came from Billy Williams to St. Jerome and all the stories," Poss said. "One of the reporters asked me where it came from, and I said, I think George Washington did it at Valley Forge. So it's been around a long time. It's how you use it. That's the key to it."
In 1994, it debuted at A.C. Reynolds after the team’s first win of the year.
"In 1994, my first year at A.C. Reynolds High School, after our first win, we did ‘Good, Better, Best’ in the locker room," Poss said. "That thing is a little catchy."
That’s where ‘Good, Better, Best,’ found its way into the heart of a young Ben Johnson, the quarterback with a trusted voice that led the Rockets to a state title in 2002 from under center.
"Ben is truly a champion and he's a guy that is a step above back, even in the high school days," Poss said.
"Ben, the first thing that pops out as a coach is he’s just very intelligent," A.C. Reynolds assistant coach Shane Laws said. "He was a very intelligent player, really high football IQ, even as a high school quarterback. We gave him, especially by the time he was a senior, a little more rope as far as how much you know he influenced plays, play calls and some of those things because we trusted a lot of the things that he was saying, and what he was seeing on the field."
The same words that once lifted him on Friday nights now lifts an entire locker room on Sundays after wins.
"It’s just a fond memory of mine growing up post-game in that locker room – shoot, even before I was wearing that uniform – because my dad was an assistant coach on that team before he got into high school administration," Johnson said on Oct. 24. "I remember being in that locker room and that was just the rallying cry at that time. I think there's something to be said when a group of men – they're all believing the same thing. They're saying the same thing. It's one heartbeat, one voice. I think our guys have enjoyed it."
And just like the speech itself, it’s been passed from team to team and generation to generation.
Words that have traveled through time and through people have now found a new meaning in the city of Chicago. Laws has seen ‘Good, Better, Best’ reflect itself in the Chicago Bears.
"They've been good, and then they're getting better and then they're getting better," Laws said. "I mean the ‘Good, Better, Best’ is what the Bears are right now. I mean it because every time you turn 'em on, they're a little better than they were the week before."
"He's created a chemistry in that locker room where those guys believe in each other," Poss said. "They believe in him and the coaching staff and they're all pulling in the same direction. I think ‘Good, Better, Best’ is just sort of the thing that kicks all that off."
Local perspective:
While a piece of AC Reynolds lives in Ben, it now lives in the Bears' locker room, carrying on a standard that inspires every player who takes part in it.
Johnson even made sure he incorporated it into the postgame speech after a 27-15 win over the Eagles, where he ripped his shirt off in the name of free hot dogs from The Weiner's Circle.
"He got a little muscle to him," Bears offensive lineman Darnell Wright said. "He’s been in there working out."
From a high school locker room to one of the most storied franchises in football, those words have become more than a chant. They’ve become a standard, a rallying point and a reminder that greatness is built step-by-step.
And together, Chicago is learning what Johnson experienced long ago.
"It’s one of the reasons really people at all levels fall in love with football," Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent said. "There’s a little bit of that camaraderie with every good team. Buying into whatever the chant is, whatever the saying is post-victory, which is why I believe it’s had the effect that it’s had."