Cedric Benson
| refer to caption Cedric Benson during the 2007 Chicago Bears Training Camp. | |
| Chicago Bears | |
|---|---|
| Career information | |
| College: | Texas |
| NFL draft: | 2005 / round: 1 / pick: 4 |
| Career history | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Stats at Pro Football Reference | |
Cedric Myron Benson (born December 28, 1982 in Midland, Texas) is an American football running back. The Bears wasted a valuable first round fourth overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft on Benson, who refuses to give anything even close to resembling effort since Thomas Jones was traded to the New York Jets.
High school career
Cedric Benson attended Robert E. Lee High School in Midland, Texas, and finished his career with 8,423 rushing yards in his career (the most in Texas 5A history and the fourth most in Texas high school football history). He led his team to three consecutive State Championships, and rushed for a total of 15 touchdowns in the three championship games. He was the first high school player to ever make the cover of Dave Campbell's Texas Football annual magazine. Cedric was also a center fielder on the baseball team. As a senior, in District 4-5A games, he hit .361 with 4 home runs and 14 RBIs.
College career
Benson was a four-year starter at The University of Texas at Austin, where he received the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back in 2004. He finished his college career with 5,540 rushing yards to rank sixth all time in NCAA Division I-A history, and second only to Ricky Williams in school history.
He has often been compared to Ricky Williams, due to their similarities in running style, college choice, and superficial appearance (roughly the same size and build coming out of college, and both had dreadlocks early in their careers). Due to several off-field controversies involving Ricky Williams, Benson has tried to distance himself from Williams and establish his own identity.
Professional career
The Chicago Bears selected Benson as the fourth overall selection in the 2005 NFL Draft,[1] making him the highest drafted Bears player since Dan Hampton in 1979.[2] The Bears’ organization and Benson could not come to terms on a contract, causing him to miss the entire Bears' training camp.[3] Benson, a thirty-six day hold-out, eventually signed a five-year contract worth thirty-five million dollars.[4] The Bears wished to make Benson their feature running back, his lengthy contract impasse, had caused him to miss a significant portion of practice.[4] Benson claims that he received a cold reception upon his return.[5] The team temporarily made Thomas Jones their feature running back for beginning of the 2005 season.[4] Jones's performance impressed the Bears' coaching staff. They left him as the team's starting running back throughout most of the season. Benson occasionally received playtime; he rushed for eighty yards on sixteen carries against the New Orleans Saints during his best game. However, shortly afterwards, in what appeared to be a horrific injury, he suffered a medial collateral ligament sprain and missed most of the remaining season.
During a 2006 FOX News Chicago Sports special on the Chicago Bears summer camp, it was revealed that Benson would be on top of Thomas Jones on the depth chart. Days after the announcement, FOX Chicago reported that Benson has injured his shoulder after a collision with Brian Urlacher during a routine scrimmage. Although the injury was not serious, it placed Benson on the Bears' injury list for a majority of the NFL's preseason. Jones was declared the unconditional starter before the season began.
Although Benson fully recovered from his injury, Lovie Smith selected Jones as the Bears' starter. Benson scored his first two touchdowns during week five of the 2006 NFL season, against the Buffalo Bills. In a game against the New England Patriots during week twelve of the 2006 Chicago Bears season, Benson collided with linebacker Junior Seau. The collision caused Seau to fall down and fracture his forearm.
Days later, Benson challenged Lovie Smith’s coaching by remarking, “the NFL is not like high school or college, but the best players don't always get on the field.” [1] The following week, Benson out rushed Jones and scored a vital third quarter touchdown. He began to receive more carries as the weeks progressed, and managed to rush for over 100 yards against the Green Bay Packers.
However, during the playoffs, Benson became the Bears' secondary running back again. In the divisional playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks, Benson only received twelve carries for which he rushed 45 yards. In the 2006 NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints, Benson scored a fourth quarter touchdown and totaled 60 yards. Though he was given a majority of the team's carries, Jones amassed two touchdowns and 123 rushing yards. In Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Benson was injured in the first half and finished the game with -1 yards rushing and a fumble in the Bears' 29-17 loss to Indianapolis.
Trivia
- Benson was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 12th round (370th overall) of the 2001 MLB Draft. While Benson did not play in the major leagues, he spent his time with the Dodgers playing in their summer league at Vero Beach. He also played with the Gulf Coast League Dodgers. In 25 at bats he had 5 hits, 1 run, 3 doubles, 2 triples, and 2 RBIs. In 2003, Benson left the Dodgers to concentrate on his football career.
- While attending the University of Texas, Benson majored in social work and sociology.
- Outside of athletics, Cedric established himself as a hard working student while attending the University of Texas. During his latter years, he earned membership into the Texas' Athletics Director's Academic Honor Roll, and the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll in fall of 2003.
- Cedric began to emerge as a football star in the eighth grade while attending Abell Junior High School in Midland, Texas. Cedric rushed for more than 1,900 yards in only 9 games.
References
- ^ McClain, John, Texans pick Travis Johnson; Bears draft Benson (April 24, 2005), Houston Chronicle. Retrieved on August 13, 2007.
- ^ Briggs, Brad, Benson speaks volumes (January 31, 2007), Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on August 13, 2007.
- ^ Associated Press, Bears' Benson last first-round pick unsigned (August 18, 2005), USA Today. Retrieved on August 13, 2007.
- ^ a b c Eide, Paul, Bears' starting running back an obvious choice (September 4, 2006), Real Football 365. Retrieved on August 13, 2007.
- ^ Robinson, Charles, Double trouble (September 10, 2007), Yahoo! Sports, Retrieved on September 10, 2007.
External links
- Benson's Official Chicago Bears Profile
- Cedric Benson Highlight Videos from jcdenton40.com
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