Bengals Cedric Benson Won’t be Suspended
League sources have reported that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will not suspend Cincinnati Bengals running back (RB) Cedric Benson for his role in an altercation in Texas two months ago.
Benson was arrested in May for allegedly assaulting a bartender. Benson was charged with misdemeanour assault, but he has denied that charge.
Benson met with Goodell last week. Benson claimed that Goodell surprised him and was appreciative that the Commissioner saw his side of the story.
“I never met him before and I think he just wanted to get to know me,” Benson said. “They had a list of the encounters I had on paper and instead of formulating an opinion based on paper, they took the initiative. What’s all on paper is negative. Of course, he could have done the opposite and I really appreciate that.”
Before the Bengals practice at training camp, Benson had informed reporters that he would not be suspended. Benson felt he didn’t deserve the suspension and his head coach indicated that Benson had been jumped and sucker-punched in the bar and was in the right for what he did.
Benson was supported by the Bengals throughout the ordeal. To his credit as well, Benson was the one who contacted the police that night in Austin, Texas. For his trouble, he was charged with assault and was left wondering whether he had just placed his career in jeopardy again. He sealed Goodell’s decision with the support he got from his team and being able to explain his side of the story.
“He’s got my back,” said Benson of Bengals president Mike Brown. “When I got arrested, I was nervous. I thought I was going to get the same kind of reaction from this team that I got in Chicago. I was just amazed at how different it was. They took the time to look into the facts. Just took more of an initiative. We’re not just invested for what the type of player you are. What you can give us on the football field? But, we are invested in you as a person. That’s the impression I got. You can’t ask for more than that.”
Benson had his troubles with the law as a member of the Chicago Bears. After being drafted fourth overall in 2005, his time in Chicago ended after he was arrested on two alcohol related charges in 2008. However, he was not indicted by a grand jury because there wasn’t enough evidence. Benson explained to Goodell how much better the Bengals handled the situation than the Bears did two years ago.
“I explained to him a little bit of my situation in Chicago,” Benson said. “And how when I first got there they weren’t really welcoming and some of the players felt they shouldn’t draft me. I was kind of expressing how it’s night and day. Not only from the staff and (management), but the players as well between here and Chicago.”
The Cincinnati Bengals have gotten a reputation for taking in troubled, talented players and giving them another chance to prove they can change. Things now look a lot higher for Benson, who’s in the last year of his contract, but has made it no secret he intends to stay in Cincinnati.
“It makes you feel at home,” Benson said. “It makes you feel good about what you’re doing here, working in this town, working for an owner like Mike. It makes you feel good. It brings out the best in you truly.”
Benson now leads the Bengals power running game and has truly found his home. Things look so much brighter for him and the Bengals now than at any point this offseason, including the Terrell Owens signing.
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