Cedric Benson - Guilty, NFL Style

By: D.K. Wilson

The Chicago Bears waived Cedric Benson after a second alleged intoxication beef in sunny, sultry, Austin, Texas. The first was for “Boating While Black (with a bevy of white women)” on the party waters of Lake Travis. For BWB Benson was dragged ashore face down through the lake and beaten. His mug shot shows clearly his battered eye and swollen face.

The second incident occurred this past Saturday in the nationally-famous 6th Street area bar district of Austin at 2:18 a.m. Earlier that evening Benson and his white girlfriend had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, Kenichi, just off 6th Street. They had drinks at an unknown bar close to the restaurant and were leaving the area when he was pulled over by police for allegedly making a turn on a red light. Benson was given a field sobriety test and according to him, passed.

“Check the tape,” Benson is alleged to have said of his test. According to an article by Mary Owen and David Haugh in the Chicago Tribune:

[Benson's attorney, Sam] Bassett said Benson did not run the red light and insisted his client performed well on the field sobriety tests, which he said was video-recorded and will exonerate him when made public.

“Those who assisted him for me at the jail only two or three hours after his arrest tell me they believe he was not intoxicated,” Bassett said in an e-mail interview with the Tribune. “The good news is there will be a tape of the tests for us all to see.”

But like Terry “Tank” Johnson before him, Cedric Benson was released by Chicago Bears GM Jerry Angelo. Johnson was released by Angelo and the Bears ownership after being pulled over in his hometown in Arizona while driving to his mother’s home around 3:15 a.m. Johnson had already been suspended by Roger Goodell.

The charge on Johnson in Arizona? Driving while intoxicated.

Johnson, like Benson, maintained his innocence. But Angelo released Johnson before it was known whether or not Johnson was actually driving illegally.

Terry Johnson was innocent.

It mattered not. Johnson was guilty of anything and everything. He was lying and somehow subverted the test and skirted the law, depending on which writer or talking head you believed. He was guilty of stupidity according to others. He was just plain trouble according to more still.

After being reinstated by Goodell, Johnson landed with the Dallas Cowboys. He lived a very quiet off-the-field life with the Cowboys; no problems, no scrapes with the law; no nothing.

Despite the press’ best efforts to back the Bears for their ridiculous actions, Chicago ended with egg in their faces. The Bears fell from third in points allowed in 2006 to 16th in 2007. And though Johnson’s loss could not be blamed entirely for that major dip, he was responsible for occupying two blockers allowing middle linebacker Brian Urlacher to sift through the remainder of the offensive line and hunt down running backs. In 2006 the Bears surrendered only 99.2 yards rushing per game. In 2007 they gave up a whopping 122.9. And in 2007 the Bears were 28th in the league in total yards allowed while in 2006 they were fourth.

There is no comparison with Benson as there is with Johnson, which speaks to another set of problems within the Chicago Bears organization. Cedric Benson is known to be “aloof” which apparently has not at all endeared him to Bears offensive linemen - or the team. However, the man’s accomplishments at the University of Texas and his willingness to put a team on his back and carry them cannot be denied. He is, after all, the third-leading rusher in Longhorns history behind only Ricky Williams and Earl Campbell.

The Bears spent a first round draft choice on Benson and owe it to themselves to get what they paid for. To that end, it would have behooved head coach Lovie Smith to call all the offensive linemen into the video room, sit them down, and make them watch Benson at Texas. Make them watch him carry opposing defenders down the field. Make then watch him hand the ball to referees after scoring touchdowns. Make them watch him congratulate his linemen after he scores.

Then Smith should have told his linemen, “This is what will happen if you block for Cedric Benson.”

Instead, Smith acted as most NFL head coaches do, but worse, as most black NFL coaches appear to be forced to do. Smith stayed largely silent on the issue of Benson - as he did with Johnson. When he spoke about Johnson he spoke mostly of disappointment with the defensive lineman’s alleged miscues. Now, with Benson he has deferred totally to Angelo.

So Smith did not grow as a head coach learning lessons from Johnson’s forced departure which ultimately cost his team wins and demand of Angelo that management take another tack with Benson and be patient. Lovie Smith just watched the only experienced running back on his team get booted out the door.

And he said nothing.

And for the press, like last season with Tank Johnson the press is jumping, prematurely, to Jerry Angelo’s side. Even in Austin where Benson resides and where he played gloriously for the Texas Longhorns, he is being pilloried. Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman is leading the anti-Benson sentiment charge from the Lone Star state’s capital city:

Me, I’d dump him. Move him, trade him, cut him, waive him to the Tampa Bay Rays or the mixed martial arts league or af2, whatever. But he wouldn’t be on my roster any longer if, one month after an arrest, however dubious the circumstances, he put himself in position to be arrested again for anything. Even jaywalking.

Supposedly, Benson was celebrating his mother’s birthday when he was pulled over in his BMW and arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. He then refused a Breathalyzer and a blood test, police said. No word on whether a common-sense test was offered.

Maybe Terry Bradshaw couldn’t spell cat after being spotted the first two letters. If this latest arrest has any merit, we now must presume Benson can’t spell C-A-B. At this rate, he may soon learn how to spell U-N-E-M-P-L-O-Y-E-D.

To confess, this writer has always had a soft spot for the Longhorns’ second all-time rusher. He was a rugged back who always wanted the ball. He spoke from the heart even when his mind protested. He was a standup guy. I liked him and still do.

But enough’s enough. Even if Benson is innocent of both of these charges — and the boating incident sure looked trumped up from here — the Bears now have to come to grips with his behavior and that he is not reliable. They can’t count on him on or off the field.

So even if he is innocent of both charges, and even Bohls admits the boating charges are downright sheisty, Benson should be released.

Let’s get this straight. In the NFL at least there is no more waiting for the law to run its course before judging the guilt of a football player. There are only predictable knee-jerk negative reactions to reports of Benson’s sort because… well, because the press says it’s so. And because the press says the teams’ fan bases say it is so.

I forgot, from Big Box sports media outlets down to your local newspaper sports columnist there are no agendas out there.

There is no licking one’s finger and checking which way society’s moral winds are blowing and writing accordingly. No, not in sports and sportswriting.

There is no checking over one’s shoulder to see what peers are saying and writing and riding with the hive mind. No way.

There is no attempting to put one’s self in the position of moral arbiter for the sports world and side with the Commish, the GMs, the owners, and the league against these pampered, overpaid, overgrown babies. Why, of course not.

Should Benson be innocent will one of these men or women who ripped him have the guts to give a public mea culpa?

Hell no.

Additionally, should Benson be innocent of his charges - Monday he apologized for using poor judgment but again proclaimed his innocence - the press will not turn an eye toward the police of Austin, turn an eye toward the Chicago Bears and especially Jerry Angelo, or turn an eye toward the owners as a whole and strongly suggest that they treat these players as they would want to be treated?

Hell no.

Should Cedric Benson be exonerated of his alleged misdeeds the press will maintain that the Bears did right by the team and the fans, they will take their criticism of Ced Benson to the extreme just to cover how wrong they are. And they will make statements like this one made Monday by Woody Paige on ESPN’s Around the Horn that speaks to the modern-day slave, auction block nature of the NFL - and all sports:

“The Bears spent a number one pick to own him.”

So far Cedric Benson has been Boating While Black and Driving While Black and doing both in the presence of white women. For both he is guilty as charged. Now he is a former Chicago Bears football player.

As for his guilt in relation to his actual charges? That remains to be seen.

Is everybody happy?

Related Articles

Lake Travis Is Unkind to Cedric Benson

Cedric Benson Update: Ced Says It Ain’t So

The Cedric Benson Case: Not So Cut, Not So Dried

The Sports Blogosphere and Today’s Latest News

Tags: , , , , , , ,

D.K. Wilson is a freelance sports writer. He is better known on the internet as "DWil," and writes for Sports On My Mind.

Share This Article

6 Comments

  1. HERE IS AN IDEA. STOP MAKING EVERYTHING ABOUT RACE. HE WAS ARRESTED TWICE, WHETHER HE IS GUILTY OR NOT HE WAS ARRESTED. HE IS A POS AND A HORRIBLE RUNNING BACK. SHOULD HAVE TRADED HIM AND KEPT THOMAS JONES.

    Comment by Marc Hernandez on June 10, 2008

  2. Sure it’s all because he’s black and dates a white woman. It’s not his fault at all. It’s just the big bad white man out to get him. That’s what we whitye people do you know. We sit around trying to keep the black man down.

    Let him grow up and take responsibility for your own actions! What happened to reporting the news or is this a gossip column?

    Comment by AB on June 10, 2008

  3. The only difference here is that Tank Johnson is good, whereas Cedric Benson blows and they can get a better running back off the Denver Broncos’ practice squad, for a lot less money. Good riddance to Benson. Now we need Turnoversaurus Rex to go Cade McNown on us so we can get a new QB too while we’re at it.

    Comment by Joeskeys2thegame on June 10, 2008

  4. Excellent article and I enjoy the preception of the writer’s a fresh approach to “incidents” regarding black athletes.
    How many times have we seen the knee jerk reactions of the sport establishment who follow the lead of management without the knowledge or fairness that should be required before commenting on the situation of the black athelete.
    More responses like the writer will cause a change of this attitude in the long run.

    Comment by Douglas on June 10, 2008

  5. The rantings of a true racist. As Bill Cosby would say you have no one but yourself to blame for your actions.

    Comment by UncleTom on June 10, 2008

  6. It is ridiculous to conclude that because someone is or is not innocent of criminal charges, an employer can’t fire him. I, and most other fans, could care less if Benson is ultimately found guilty or innocent. He deserves to be fired simply for what we already know: he has poor judgment and he is not committed to his team. He should not have been out that late. He should not have been driving. Period. End of story. It was a thumb in the face of every single coach, teammate and fan who believed in him. He is paid millions of dollars for performance and loyalty and he displayed neither. If he doesn’t get it, he should pay the consequences. And you apparently don’t get it either . . . would you want him on your team? Would you pay him millions?

    Comment by JK on June 12, 2008

Comment On This Article