Cedric the Entertainer
Say what you want about Cedric Benson, but he was a breath of fresh air in the Bears locker room for three years, even when I had no clue what he was talking about, which was fairly often.
His most endearing quality was his honesty. I don’t think the guy knows how to lie. The Bears frequently had a public relations representative hovering within earshot of Benson every time he opened his mouth, just so they could monitor everything he was saying to the media.
He’s evidently a lot happier in Cincinnati, where he came into a situation where he was “The Guy.” In Chicago he had to battle for playing time against an established player in Thomas Jones, who had the loyalty of most of his teammates, and deservedly so.
Benson is far more productive in Cincy than he ever was here, where his career was a roller coaster on and off the field. But he’s still more honest and entertaining than 90 percent of the players who have passed through Halas Hall in the past 10 years.
When Benson was asked what went wrong here, he said: “I don't know. That's a good question. I couldn't place my finger on it. I wasn't the one who told me that I was no longer a part of the team. I could not tell you exactly what went wrong.”
Fairly normal stuff, but then he discussed his three years with the Bears, which weren’t as horrible as a lot of people probably remember. His first two years with the Bears, Benson averaged a decent 4.1 yards per carry. But then, in 2007, with Jones gone and the starting job all his, Benson averaged just 3.4 yards per carry for a 7-9 team that just couldn’t run the ball at all. As a team, the Bears averaged 3.1 yards per carry that year.
Benson breaks it down like this: “I never really got jump-started there. The one year I had where I started, I think I got seven games under my belt before I got hurt, was out for the season, and probably after that I hardly ever really played, couple carries here, couple carries there, but I never really got an opportunity to get my socks wet.”
Socks wet? That’s pure Benson.
Never mind that in the only year he was the No. 1 runner, 2007, he started the first 11 games, not seven, and didn’t play again after suffering a sprained ankle. In 2006 he played in 15 games, but Jones got almost twice as many carries and twice as many yards, although they both averaged 4.1 yards per carry. Maybe Benson was thinking about his rookie season, 2005, when he got just 67 carries and was outperformed by Jones and Adrian Peterson.
Whatever, Ced, good luck and I hope your socks stay wet in Cincinnati.
Benson didnt fit in here, he is better off. Our current line sucks and forte is slow and one yr wonder who reminds me a lot of anthony thomas. Lay off turner. No one was complaining when thomas jones and benson were a good tandem or when forte has 1200 yards last season or when he took erik kramer to the franchise passing record in 1994 or when he coached grossman to pro bowl level for the first half of 2006 and eventually to the super bowl. Forte is slow, line is old and sucks. Its not turner calling bad running plays, a 15 yr old could call dives sweeps counters and pitches.
Ron Turner's scheme and the line's incompetence is the reason why this offense has struggled. They stink, and the best of the bunch is a way past his prime center. You never want your center to be your best lineman.
Glad he's doing well, but his struggles in Chicago: A reflection on him, or Ron Turner's scheme? My gut tells me both, as sometimes Turner acts like he's been infected with "Shoop-itis". But Ced did himself no favors in the Super Bowl fumbling the ball away after Thomas Jones had ripped off a 52 yard run on the previous series.