Cedric Benson Biography
High school years
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.
The Chicago Bears selected Benson as the fourth overall selection in the 2005 NFL Draft, making him the highest drafted Bears player since Dan Hampton in 1979. The Bears’ organization and Benson could not come to terms on a contract, causing him to miss the entire Bears' training camp. Benson, a thirty-six day hold-out, eventually signed a five-year contract worth thirty-five million dollars. The Bears wished to make Benson their feature running back, his lengthy contract impasse, had caused him to miss a significant portion of practice. Benson claims that he received a cold reception upon his return. The team temporarily made Thomas Jones their feature running back for beginning of the 2005 season. 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.” 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.
Benson was named the starter for the 2007 season after a trade of Thomas Jones to the New York Jets.