OT: Benson charged with DWI in 2nd arrest in a month

[bankybruce]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3430752

Cedric Benson's rocky relationship with the Chicago Bears got murkier Saturday after the running back's arrest on a drunken driving charge in Austin, Texas, his second arrest in little more than a month.

Bears officials said they would treat the matter seriously. Benson's attorney said the former Texas star had a few drinks with dinner but didn't think he was intoxicated, and cooperated with police.

Cedric Benson

Benson
Still, attorney Sam Bassett acknowledged, "He's probably in trouble with his team for breaking curfew and having anything to drink under the circumstances."

Authorities said Benson was arrested early Saturday after he failed a field sobriety test. The former first-round draft pick was charged with driving while intoxicated and released on bond.

The arrest comes a month after Benson was charged with boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest. He has said neither charge is true, and those cases are pending.

At a fan event at Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday, Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said he'd not spoken to Benson but called the situation unfortunate.

"Disappointment is too much an often-used word when we're talking about Cedric, and the number one lesson for every player is protect your job," Angelo said. "So we're all held accountable for our actions."

Asked if the new arrest will weigh against Benson, Angelo said: "Well, it doesn't weigh very well. And it's unfortunate. We will deal with it when we know everything."

Austin police spokeswoman Veneza Aguinaga said Benson, who was pulled over for running a red light, refused to take a breath test or provide blood samples Saturday.

Bassett said Benson thought the light was yellow when he went through around 2 a.m., though he stopped immediately when police appeared. Bassett said Benson told him he wasn't speeding or driving recklessly.

"He doesn't feel like he was intoxicated," Bassett said. "He said he had two or three drinks the whole night with dinner."

Bassett said Benson's girlfriend was with him at the time. The two had dined at a Japanese restaurant earlier. The running back was in Austin for his mother's birthday this weekend, Bassett said.

Coach Lovie Smith said he was inclined to give Benson the benefit of the doubt "like everyone else in society gets."

"That's what we'll do with this thing," Smith said.

Benson was the fourth overall draft pick in 2005 and started 11 games last season. Three weeks ago, he took part in voluntary spring workouts in Illinois, lining up in the Bears' first-team backfield.

He has a June 30 court date for the May 5 arrest while operating a 30-foot boat on Lake Travis near Austin. Authorities say he resisted arrest and they had to use pepper spray to subdue him. Benson has denied he resisted and says officers used excessive force.

In 2003, Benson was sentenced to eight days in jail on a misdemeanor trespassing charge after forcing his way into an apartment to look for a reported stolen TV.

Benson rushed for more than 5,500 yards and 64 touchdowns at Texas. But instead of developing into a star for the Bears, the 25-year-old has been plagued by injuries and alienated teammates with blunt comments.

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. The Bears drafted Tulane running back Matt Forte in the second round of April's NFL draft.

We will be a Cowboy by weeks end.

 

[Skkorpion]

What a surprise. Dumb and dumber. I wonder what the CAP charge will be if the Bears cut him.

 

[black]

Benson stole money from the Dodgers too. I don't like 'em.

 

[SoCal Cardfan]

"Benson thought the light was yellow when he went through around 2 a.m., though he stopped immediately when police appeared."

C'mon, give the man a cookie, , they should just overlook the red light/d.u.i thing for being a good citizen and stopping for the police and all.

 

[Southpaw]

Dumbest of the dumb?

How low can Benson go? How stupid can he be?
Benson’s drunk-driving charge leaves Bears with one choice: Cut him

June 8, 2008
BY JAY MARIOTTI Sun-Times Columnist

As police mugshots go, it’s not as maniacal as Nick Nolte’s or as damning as Rip Torn’s. But Cedric Benson definitely was having a good time in the wee hours Saturday, posing for his latest portrait at Texas Slammer Studios. He wore a huge grin, wider than the 3.4 yards he averaged last year. His eyes were narrow, underlined by heavily creased bags. His shirt was open at the neck, his hair sticking up on top.

This will be our last image of him, I believe.
» Click to enlarge image
How does someone with a functioning brain and a pending alcohol case put any amount of alcohol in his body ... and drive?

Because if the Bears have any accountability as a Chicago institution, any interest in operating a law-abiding and responsible organization amid their comfortable Lake Forest existence, they’ll immediately end their hopeless, tragicomic association with a 24/7 migraine headache. Only a month after he was charged with boating while intoxicating and resisting arrest, which came only weeks after he was busted for driving 77 mph in an Edens Expy. construction zone, Benson showed remarkable stupidity even for him. He returned to the scene of his party-boat arrest -- honky-tonking Austin, Texas -- and consumed at least two or three drinks during a late dinner, leading to yet another arrest on drunk-driving charges.

How does someone with a functioning brain and a pending alcohol case put any amount of alcohol in his body ... and drive? Worse, how does he do so in a renowned party town with police on every corner, steering his BMW at 3:15 a.m. in the city’s entertainment district weeks after accusing the local authorities of roughing him up? You don’t think those Austin coppers were licking their chops as if served a plate of chicken-fried steak? Given Benson’s troubled history, it’s hard to believe anything he or his attorney say in his defense anymore. “He was not intoxicated but had a small amount to drink with dinner,” said Benson’s attorney, Sam Bassett, who seems to think “two or three” drinks at a Japanese restaurant with his girlfriend doesn’t impair judgment behind a wheel.

With that misguided rationale, how can we take Bassett seriously when he attempts to explain why his party-boy client allegedly ripped through a red light? “He does not believe he ran a red light. He and his girlfriend state the light was just turning yellow when he entered the intersection,” Bassett wrote in an e-mail to the Sun-Times. Oh, so that makes it OK, then, running a yellow light with alcohol in his system at 3:15 a.m.?

The errors in judgment here are mind-boggling. Under intense scrutiny by the Bears, who have wasted more than $20 million on this problematic stiff, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, whose crackdown on criminal behavior has been well-established for two years, Benson seems to live via some warped illusion that he’s bulletproof. In fact, he probably just put the final bullet into one of the most pathetic sports careers we’ve seen in Chicago.

That is saying something, considering the woeful crashes of two other recent first-round running backs, Curtis Enis and Rashaan Salaam, but remember that Benson was taken with the fourth pick of the 2005 draft and was advertised by general manager Jerry Angelo as a pounding workhorse.

We should have known it was a blunder that day, when Benson weeped openly and then ripped other NFL teams who had questioned his character. Turns out those teams were right and Angelo was the dummy who will have to live with this career-marring flub. Upon hearing of Benson’s latest arrest, which included his refusal to take a Breathalyzer test and offer a blood sample, Angelo sounded like a beaten man who no longer can defend his pet. The Bears traded Thomas Jones to the New York Jets because Benson was around. The Bears have dealt with locker-room dissension and sideline tumult because of Benson. Saturday morning, the Bears were trying to host an upbeat fan event at Soldier Field when they had to answer questions about Benson’s arrest.

Embarrassing? Disturbing? No, this has become absolute madness. Even if he were an All-Pro running back, Benson’s future as a Bear would be worthy of public debate. As a bust on the field and off, he has no redeeming value.

Cut your losses and bail before his next arrest, which already is the subject of over-unders in Chicago taverns.

“Hard to believe,” Angelo said. “We are certainly going to take this very seriously. I’m not going to sit here and tell you we are not extremely disappointed and frustrated with this. Anybody would be in this situation.

“Disappointment is too much an often-used word when we’re talking about Cedric, and the No. 1 lesson for every player is protect your job. So we’re all held accountable for our actions.” When asked by reporters if the latest mess will “weigh against” Benson, Angelo reacted pointedly. “It doesn’t weigh very well,” he said, mentioning as he did after the party-boat episode that he was “surprised he put himself in this situation.” Even Bassett senses a divorce could be forthcoming.

“He’s probably in trouble with his team for breaking curfew and having anything to drink under the circumstances,” he told the Associated Press.

So we await the latest Benson media scene, set for Monday at Halas Hall.

Only five weeks from training camp, the Bears must start concentrating on football after another messy offseason that has included Brian Urlacher’s ongoing financial complaints. But Benson won’t let them move on. He is a perpetual plague, capable of lengthening his police-blotter history at any moment. Rookie Matt Forte, the second-round draft pick, is about to become the No. 1 running back by default. But while Forte is judged to have good character, he also was drafted by Angelo, a damning distinction. Can we trust a kid from Tulane who ran up big yardage against Southeastern Louisiana, Rice, UAB and SMU? With veteran running backs out there -- LaMont Jordan, Kevin Jones, even Shaun Alexander -- the Bears must fortify the position.

The joke is on Chicago, of course, as Cedric Benson grins at us in his goofy mugshot. But we’ll get over it. I’m just wondering where he'll be in 10 years, and unless he grows up, it’s unlikely to be a good place.

 

[Southpaw]

Da mugshot.

Now that's a happy drunk.

http://www.faniq.com/images/blog/benson(2).jpg

 

[PoolBoy]

what a loser. how did the bears not draft mendenhall or someone? they are going to be terrible this year.

 

[lobo]

what a loser. how did the bears not draft mendenhall or someone? they are going to be terrible this year.

They did draft someone...someone who will has the potential to contribute far more than Benson. Forte out of Tulane....he is a very good back.

 

[lobo]

"Benson thought the light was yellow when he went through around 2 a.m., though he stopped immediately when police appeared."

C'mon, give the man a cookie, , they should just overlook the red light/d.u.i thing for being a good citizen and stopping for the police and all.

Maybe he is color challanged (PC).

 

[Skkorpion]

Benson will be snapped up fast by some good team as soon as the Bears cut him.

We should be pro-active and offer a 5th round pick for him. He's got to be better than Shipp and Arrington. This is no-lose for us.

 

[cardsfanmd]

Benson will be snapped up fast by some good team as soon as the Bears cut him.

We should be pro-active and offer a 5th round pick for him. He's got to be better than Shipp and Arrington. This is no-lose for us.

I am not opposed to getting him, but isn't he pretty certain to be facing a suspension now?

 

[PoolBoy]

Benson will be snapped up fast by some good team as soon as the Bears cut him.

We should be pro-active and offer a 5th round pick for him. He's got to be better than Shipp and Arrington. This is no-lose for us.

seriously? our last 2 5th round picks were breaston and hightower. i would take both of them over 2 cedric bensons.

 

[Skkorpion]

That backfired. I wasn't serious.

Just poking fun at the usual inevitable posts to bring in ________ loser criminal from ______ team because he's got to be better than anybody who has ever played that position for the Cardinals.

In all seriousness, I think Cedric Benson's NFL career is now over.

 

[PoolBoy]

k good. i was going to say you can't be serious but i didn't want to be mean if you were. haha

 

[Brian in Mesa]

LOSER x 2

 

[Totally_Red]

Benson will be snapped up fast by some good team as soon as the Bears cut him.

We should be pro-active and offer a 5th round pick for him. He's got to be better than Shipp and Arrington. This is no-lose for us.

Oh how quick you are to diss our franchise-saving 5th round draft pick.

 

[CardLogic]

Da mugshot.

Now that's a happy drunk.

http://www.faniq.com/images/blog/benson(2).jpg [/quote] He looks as though he is enjoying the booking procedure...

But what the heck, why shouldn't he smile, he took the Bears for 20 mill and doesn't have to do squat for the rest of his life...

For Benson that equates to... Party Time!!!

 

[TruColor]

Benson was indeed cut:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3434053

I'm sure the Broncos are practically tripping over themselves trying to sign him.

(Character issues? What character issues?)

 

[JC_AZ]

Another article about him being cut... Chicago Tribune story

The Cedric Benson Era with the Chicago Bears is over -- the team placed him on waivers this afternoon. Get the latest at chicagotribune.com: http://link.chicagotribune.com/r/CT9N4Q/8Z8WA/R3P0FI/7MBK/8R12I/HK/t

 

[CtCardinals78]

Another article about him being cut... Chicago Tribune story

The Cedric Benson Era with the Chicago Bears is over -- the team placed him on waivers this afternoon. Get the latest at chicagotribune.com: http://link.chicagotribune.com/r/CT9N4Q/8Z8WA/R3P0FI/7MBK/8R12I/HK/t

Wow. See you later Ced. too bad he always had potential. Just goes to show that the NFL and teams are not going to put up with this crap anymore. That 2005 draft class is turning into a bunch of thugs! When it's all said and done we may end up with the most productive first rounder in that draft!

 

[Scott MS]

Wow. See you later Ced. too bad he always had potential. Just goes to show that the NFL and teams are not going to put up with this crap anymore. That 2005 draft class is turning into a bunch of thugs! When it's all said and done we may end up with the most productive first rounder in that draft!

While it's true that a majority of the '05 draft class has fizzled, Antrel Rolle will have a hard time becoming more productive than the #3 pick, Braylon Edwards of the Browns.

 

[Ryanwb]

Man,

I really should bet more often

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb...-shaun-alexander-of-the-2005-draft-51282.html

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb...nd-we-have-our-next-ottis-anderson-51459.html

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Dumbest of the dumb?

Dumbest of the dumb sums up Jay Marrioti moreso than Benson. You should never use that clown as a reference point. Next thing you know'we'll have Skip Bayless references.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I'm not defending the guy but,if you're to believe his side of the story, who hasn't had a couple drinks at dinner and then drove home? Also, on his boat, there were many different witnesses who claimed he wasn't drunk. I don't know which story is going to be proven the true one but, as we all know, the police aren't faultless when it comes to these things either. Benson was stupid to not have a driver when he has another case pending but let's not make the guy out to be a hardened criminal either. This article is from a lawyer and think it's well written. BTW, this is a great site for Chicago sports fans who can't stand numbskulls like marrioti.
http://jaythejoke.com/index.php/site/comments/526/

 

[Skkorpion]

My oh my, cbus, Marriotti didn't kill Benson's career. Benson did. He can't run well, can't get along with teammates and can't keep from getting arrested in Texas, where home-grown football heroes are usually excused every transgression.

Let's see who and how many who(s) offer him a contract, shall we?