Cedric Benson..at it again

[sooneriniowa]

Chicago RB Benson arrested on intoxicated boating charge (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AgkkGr8T2v9ZXZLlTX3PLUBDubYF?slug=ap-bears-bensonarrested&prov=ap&type=lgns)


AUSTIN (AP)—Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson faces criminal charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest.

Authorities say Benson was operating a 30-foot boat carrying about 15 passengers on Lake Travis on Saturday when he was stopped, then failed a field sobriety test. Officials say an officer had to use pepper spray to subdue Benson.
Travis County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Roger Wade says Benson was freed from jail on a $14,500 bond Sunday morning.

The 25-year-old Benson was the Bears’ first-round pick in 2005 after starring at the University of Texas.

[soonersn20xx]

LOL, the article also says they had to drag him to the car. It would be great if someone had footage of it.

[King Crimson]

guy was pretty overrated IMO. he never ran for 100 against us. a lot of 200 yard games against Iowa State and Baylor and so what?

[mynameisjoe]

Was there a TV involved?

[KantoSooner]

surprised it took pepper spray. watching him last season or so, it would seem that the 130 lb lady lake cop could have simply made like to tackle him and he'd have gone down like a bag of manure.

[bstuff1979]

surprised it took pepper spray. watching him last season or so, it would seem that the 130 lb lady lake cop could have simply made like to tackle him and he'd have gone down like a bag of manure.

I was going to say, all they needed to do was throw on a ball-cap from any team in the AFC (the Denver and SD games were especially fun to suffer through) and he would have dropped like a sack of rocks.

[colleyvillesooner]

I think it's pretty cool that he formed a search party to look for his TV.

[salth2o]

surprised it took pepper spray. watching him last season or so, it would seem that the 130 lb lady lake cop could have simply made like to tackle him and he'd have gone down like a bag of manure.

heh! spek...

[stoops the eternal pimp]

His hands I guess are big enough to hold on to a TV and steering a boat, but not big enough to carry a football without fumbling

[tulsaoilerfan]

surprised it took pepper spray. watching him last season or so, it would seem that the 130 lb lady lake cop could have simply made like to tackle him and he'd have gone down like a bag of manure.

I'm surprised he didn't just fall down and **** himself when he saw the big bad policemen. :D

[SteelClip49]

pepper spray on Cedric Benson....

I like peppered beef....I need to go to Marietta.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

If the cops had went to school at North Texas or Rice, he might have had a chance

[Scott D]

I wonder if the jail will magically be full if he has to serve another 'weekend' sentence. ;)

[goingoneight]

Maybe they should just play Adrian Peterson... I mean... it worked out for Minnesota and all.

[bstuff1979]

Maybe they should just play Adrian Peterson... I mean... it worked out for Minnesota and all.

Worked out well enough for the last two games of the season. After starting the other Peterson late last year in addition to drafting the guy from Tulane, I'm surprised they haven't already gotten rid of "el Ced (del tejas que fuma las drugs)". Then again, we (yes, I am that superfan that refers to his team using the royal "we") haven't ditched Grossman either.

[soonerfan28]

Has this guy broken 1000 yard in the NFL yet. I know last year was his first year to be the starter, but this guy needs to stop trying to be Ricky Williams.

[colleyvillesooner]

Shockingly, everything is different according to Benson:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3380764

[soonerfan28]

I like how he said he screamed for his mom.

[BudSooner]

In three years with the Bears, Benson has rushed for 1,593 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 3.8 yards a carry. He's also missed 13 games.
Wow, just wow.

[Curly Bill]

Had this guy not been a top 5 draft pick he'd already be working at the WalMarts. As it is he's prolly close anyway.

[sooner n houston]

Police pepper-sprayed Benson, a move that seems a little over the top. Police apparently didn't know that the quickest way to get Benson to the ground is simply first contact. :D

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/rosenblog/2008/05/bears-will-cut.html

[soonerfan28]

I love all those people that said he would be a much better pro then AP. AP has rushed for almost as many yards in 1 season as Benson will probably have in his career.

[BillyBall]

AP hasn't played an NFL game yet... Where do you get a Boomer Sooner ringtone? TIA

[Blitzkrieg]

DRINKING AND BOATING SHOULD NOT BE ILLEGAL. IT'S FUN

[soonerfan28]

Sorry I mean AD.

[ashley]

Lots on the ut site are saying the cops are to blame. Talk about the orange colored glasses.

[josh09]

Boom em Horns hahaha

[shaun4411]

those texas runningbacks know how to party

[bluedogok]

Lots on the ut site are saying the cops are to blame. Talk about the orange colored glasses.
I will say that most of the LCRA "Police" would have a hard time making it for most city/town police forces around here and most were probably rejected by the UTPD. They aren't exactly known for being an "elite" dept. It wouldn't surprise me for them to have been a little over-zealous.

Here is a commentary in todays paper by the local South Austin Curmudgeon.....


Statesman.com - Class you'll never see: Boating Tips by Cedric Benson (http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/06/0506kelso.html)
COMMENTARY: JOHN KELSO
Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Oh, brother. We're starting a little early this season with Longhorns Gone Wild, aren't we, Texas fans? And this year it's not the young troops who are getting busted. It's the aulde guard.

Two words you never used to associate with former UT star running back Cedric Benson were "Ahoy, mateys." But that could change.

On Saturday, Rear Admiral Benson (that's my new nickname for him) was arrested on Lake Travis on charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest. He was pulled over by a Lower Colorado River Authority officer while operating a 30-foot motor boat.

This is disturbing for Texas fans, but not as disturbing as it would be if Benson, now with the Chicago Bears, was still at Texas. If he was, it might screw up the season opener at Royal-Memorial Stadium, and everybody in Austin would be whining about it.

Anyway, according to the arrest affidavit, Benson was combative, used swear words and had to be pepper sprayed so he could be taken to the Travis County Jail, where he spent Saturday night. He was released Sunday on $14,500 bail. Benson told the Chicago Sun-Times that he wasn't drunk and that the cops roughed him up.

I've got to stick up for Benson on one thing here. Busted for boating while intoxicated: Isn't that getting a little picky? We're supposed to be surprised when somebody's drinking on a boat? What's next? A charge of fishing while redneck?

Oh well, now Benson can say he has something in common with the captain of the Exxon Valdez. But at least Benson didn't mess up any birds.

The cussing was probably a mistake. What is it about football players that makes them feel invincible? Oh, I know. It's because they're coddled from junior high like they're the center of the known universe.

One thing that gets me about this situation is how mussed up Benson looks in his police booking photo.

http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/09/05/20/image_7020059.jpg

I mean, I saw the photo of Benson in the newspaper, and he looked like the poster boy for Nick Nolte's Syndrome, that facial condition that causes a person to have a really ugly booking picture. The cops could do something to help out here so that the booking photos of their clients look prettier.

You're saying, "But the cops don't want the guy they arrested to look good in the picture; they want him to look like meatloaf in a pair of pants so the charges will stick." Exactly my point, bro.

You cops, be fair and hand the poor guy a comb. And if you're going to pepper spray a guy, you could at least give him some Visine for those eyes.

Let's face it. Red just isn't Benson's color.

....and here's a commentary by one of his "buddies" in the media here.


Statesman.com - Benson's production sunk long before his boat trip (http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/05/06/0506golden.html)
COMMENTARY: CEDRIC GOLDEN
Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Cedric Benson is the most unpopular athlete in Chicago today, and it isn't because his pepper-sprayed mug was plastered across the front page of every major sports section and shown on every highlight show in America during the last two days.

It isn't because he's the latest Chicago Bear to run into off-the-field trouble.

It isn't because he needed to fill Tank Johnson's slot on the police blotter. And he's not trying to top Oprah in the TV ratings.

There's a much simpler explanation, and it doesn't involve an arrest for boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest on a 30-foot party boat, during a routine safety check by a Lower Colorado River Authority officer.

It involves football.

Benson hasn't delivered.

And now he's not speaking publicly. I sent him a text message Monday afternoon and asked him to call me so we could discuss his arrest and his denial that he was drunk, or belligerent to the arresting officers.

He returned a one-word reply: "Tomorrow."

Problem is, tomorrows aren't promised in the National Football League. It's all about today.

And Bears fans will tell you today that Cedric Benson has been a bust as a starting running back. That's why an otherwise minor incident has become a story that's not going away anytime soon.

It doesn't surprise me when a person of color has problems with law enforcement in the Austin area, given the numerous complaints alleging excessive force over the years. Benson told the Chicago Sun-Times that he wasn't intoxicated at the time of his arrest Saturday night and that he was treated roughly by officers.

We don't know exactly how it all went down at Lake Travis, but it's easy to figure out why Benson's name is mud on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive.

His biggest problems are more ground-related: he hasn't lived up to the potential you would expect from a No. 4 overall pick who signed a five-year, $35 million contract that included about $16 million in guaranteed money.

Three NFL seasons have produced zero Pro Bowl appearances, zero 1,000-yard seasons and a glacial, 3.4-yard rushing average last year.

He hasn't given the Bears that 1,200-yard, 15-touchdown season, and for the first time in his life, he's battling serious injuries. The next time he plays 16 regular-season games will be his first.

In league circles he's a JAG (just a guy) — not a home run threat, but a plodder who somehow lost the ability to break that first tackle.

After running roughshod over the competition for most of his football life, Benson has a pedestrian 1,593 yards rushing yards in 35 career games. That's a hideous number compared with the one-season output of former Oklahoma Sooner Adrian Peterson — the seventh pick in the 2007 draft — who ran for 1,341 yards in 14 games during his rookie season with Minnesota.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo has indicated that Benson might not be a featured back in 2008 — good news to Chicago fans who are upset that Benson hasn't made them forget Thomas Jones, who averaged 1,164 yards over three season before he was let go in free agency.

That decision stung even more after Jones ran for another 1,100 yards for the 4-12 New York Jets last season.

Production. Consistent production.

The Bears still want that production, and they will find it, with Benson or without him.

They selected a running back (Tulane's Matt Forte) in the second round of last month's draft and sent Benson a clear message: Yards are more important than yachts.

Here's hoping Benson's upcoming court date will be his last.

Let's hope he's not going down the same road as his idol, first-round draft pick Ricky Williams, who lost prime earning years to his substance-use problems.

A couple of 1,500-yard seasons, and Benson's prior troubles will disappear faster than a ticket on Bill Gates' windshield in a Microsoft parking garage.

If Benson delivers, production will replace potential, and his tomorrows will become todays.

[Jello Biafra]

Wow, just wow.


don't forget about the 6 fumbles losing 4 of those.......2 of those in arguably the biggest game he'll EVER take part in. i don't know why but they don't have him losing the ball in the playoffs two years ago one was against new orleans and one in the superbowl......maybe they charged them to super rex.

[Frozen Sooner]

Heh. To be fair, if someone is turning the ball over in a Bears uniform, it's probably safe to just charge it to Grossman. It was probably his fault anyhow.

[Jello Biafra]

Heh. To be fair, if someone is turning the ball over in a Bears uniform, it's probably safe to just charge it to Grossman. It was probably his fault anyhow.

bleh....although im no grossman fan, id much rather give the credit to the whorn.