Cedric Benson Cedric Myron Benson ( born December 28 , 1982 ) is an American football running back for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League ( NFL ) . He was drafted by the Chicago Bears fourth overall in the 2005 NFL Draft . He played college football for the University of Texas at Austin . Benson was also a member of the Cincinnati Bengals . Early years . Benson began to emerge as a football stand - out in the eighth grade while attending Abell Junior High School in Midland , Texas under Coach Chris McKinney . Benson attended Robert E . Lee High School in Midland , Texas , and finished his career with 8 , 423 rushing yards ( the most in Texas 5A history and the fourth most in Texas high school football history ) . He led his team to three consecutive State Championships , and rushed for a total of 15 touchdowns in the three championship games . Cedric rushed for more than 1 , 900 yards in only 9 games . He was the first high school player to ever make the cover of Dave Campbell ' s Texas Football annual magazine . Cedric was also a center fielder on the baseball team . As a senior , in District 4 - 5A games , he hit . 361 with 4 home run s and 14 RBIs . Baseball career . Benson was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 12th round ( 370th overall ) of the 2001 MLB Draft . While Benson did not play in the major leagues , he spent his time with the Dodgers playing in their summer league at Vero Beach . He also played with the Gulf Coast League Dodgers . In 25 at bats he had 5 hits , 1 run , 3 doubles , 2 triples , and 2 RBIs 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 . Benson was a 2004 All - America selection . He has often been compared to Ricky Williams , due to their similarities in running style , college choice , legal complications , and superficial appearance ( roughly the same size and build coming out of college , and both had dreadlocks early in their careers ) , and the fact that they had both been minor league baseball players . While attending the University of Texas , Benson majored in social work and sociology . During his latter years , he earned membership into the Texas ' Athletics Director ' s Academic Honor Roll , and the Big 12 Commissioner ' s Honor Roll in fall of 2003 . Also , while in college , Benson was arrested twice , once for possession of marijuana and the other for criminal trespass . The marijuana case was dropped after a friend came forward and claimed ownership . He received 8 days in jail for the trespass conviction although he spent no time in jail other than the day of arrest due to overcrowding in Travis County Jail . He was forced to serve a one half game suspension against Baylor . Professional career . Chicago Bears . The Chicago Bears selected Benson as the fourth overall pick 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 . After a thirty - six day hold - out , Benson signed a five - year contract worth thirty - five million dollars . The Bears wished to make Benson their feature running back , but 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 because he claimed he would be starting by the third game despite holding out and not practicing . Jay Glazer reported that certain players even attempted to intentionally injure him during drills , though former Bears guard Ruben Brown has denied such claims . The team temporarily made Thomas Jones their featured running back for beginning of the 2005 season . Jones ' performance impressed the Bears ' coaching staff , and earned him the top spot on the team ' s depth - chart for the next two seasons . Benson occasionally received playtime , and he rushed for eighty yards on sixteen carries against the New Orleans Saints during his best game . However , shortly afterwards , he suffered a medial collateral ligament sprain and missed most of the remaining season . After the 2005 season , the Bears considered making Benson the team ' s featured running back after Thomas Jones was unhappy with his current contract status . The team ' s plans went astray when Benson injured his shoulder after colliding with Brian Urlacher during a routine scrimmage . Although the injury was not serious , it placed Benson on the sidelines for a majority of the preseason . 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 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 , causing 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 touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings . He began to receive more carries as the weeks progressed , and managed to rush for over 100 yards against the Green Bay Packers . Benson became the Bears ' secondary running back again during the playoffs . In the 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 , his counterpart , Jones , amassed two touchdowns and 123 rushing yards . In the team ' s following game , Super Bowl XLI , Benson sustained a knee injury in the first half , and missed the remainder of the game . Lovie Smith named Benson as the Bears ' starting running back after the team traded Thomas Jones to the New York Jets . Benson struggled throughout the preseason , but received enough support from his teammates and coaches to retain his starting position . He amassed only forty - two yards in his first regular season game and committed a costly turnover . However , Benson rebounded with a 101 - yard performance during his next start . After several inconsistent games , Benson began to stabilize after the bye week . In one of his best games of the season , Benson rushed for eighty - nine yards and scored one touchdown on eleven attempts . He averaged 5 . 8 yards in his next game , but sustained a season - ending ankle injury . Benson , who had amassed 647 yards and four touchdowns , was eventually relieved by Adrian N . Peterson . Jerry Angelo , the Bears ' general manager , had expressed interest in acquiring a new running back to revitalize the Bears ' running game , which finished last in yards in the league . Upon hearing the news , Benson commented , “ You all know the competition that goes on around here . It doesn ’ t matter to me . Maybe somebody else can get some criticism . ” On June 9 , 2008 , Benson was released by the Bears following his second alcohol - related arrest in five weeks . In October 2009 , Benson confirmed that shortly before he was released by the Bears , he had been diagnosed with Celiac disease . Cincinnati Bengals . Shortly after the grand jury failed to indict him on both incidents in Austin , Benson signed a one - year , $ 520 , 000 contract with the Cincinnati Bengals on September 30 , 2008 . DeDe Dorsey was placed on injured reserve and Chris Perry was the starter . Benson ' s season began in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys , rushing 10 times for 30 yards . He became the starting back for the Bengals in Week 7 against the Pittsburgh Steelers . Benson rushed 14 times for 52 yards in his first career start as a Bengal , and ran over Steelers safety Troy Polamalu , giving the Pro Bowler a concussion . In the following 35 – 6 loss to the Houston Texans , he totaled 49 yards on 13 carries and had two receptions for 20 yards . The Bengals picked up their first victory of the season in a 21 – 19 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars , with Benson carrying 24 times for 104 yards and a touchdown . Benson hit his stride in the Bengals ' three - game winning streak at the end of the season , gashing the Washington Redskins in week 15 with 161 all purpose yards , including 88 yards receiving ( 79 of which came on a screen pass ) . In week 16 , Benson dominated the Cleveland Browns , rushing for 171 yards . In the final game of the season against Kansas City , Benson had 111 yards on 25 carries . In the twelve games he was active during the 2008 season , Benson had 932 all - purpose yards : 747 rushing and 185 receiving . A free agent after the 2008 season , Benson visited with the Houston Texans before signing a two - year , $ 7 million contract with the Bengals on March 3 , 2009 . Entering week 8 of the 2009 season , Benson had 164 carries for an NFL best 720 yards ( 4 . 4 per carry average ) . In week 5 , he became the first 100 - yard rusher against the Baltimore Ravens in 40 games , when he rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown . In week 7 , Benson faced his former team , the Chicago Bears , and rushed for a career - high 189 yards and a touchdown . Benson went on to record his first 1 , 000 yard rushing season and he set a Bengals franchise record with six games with over 100 rushing yards . He finished the season as the NFL ' s 8th leading rusher with 1 , 251 yards , despite only playing 13 games . He then set a Bengals postseason record with 169 rushing yards in their 24 – 14 loss to the New York Jets . Green Bay Packers . On August 12 , 2012 , Benson signed with the Green Bay Packers . The deal is reportedly a one - year contract worth $ 825 , 000 . On October 7 , 2012 , Benson suffered a Lisfranc injury to his foot and was later placed on injured reserve . Legal trouble . Arrests in 2008 . Before the start of the 2008 season , Benson was arrested for allegedly operating a boat while intoxicated and resisting arrest . On May 3 , 2008 , the incident occurred near Austin , Texas by the Lower Colorado River Authority during a late night safety inspection . The official police report cited that Benson had failed a field sobriety test , and became hostile towards the police . The officers arrested Benson , and proceeded to use pepper - spray after he forcefully resisted arrest . Benson was later detained for the night , and charged with boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest . Benson has since refuted the charges against him , and stated he requested to take a follow - up field sobriety test on land after failing the initial one . Benson has further accused the officers of abusing him , stating , “ I ’ m not handcuffed . I ’ m not under arrest . I ’ m not threatening him . I ’ m not pushing him . I ’ m not touching him . And he sprays me right in the eye . ” He also asserts that officers continuously struck his ankles and feet to prevent him from walking properly . A female passenger on Benson ' s boat also claims to have witnessed the abuse and called her father out of fear for Benson ' s safety . Her fiance , also on the boat , may have dozens of pictures confirming Benson ' s account . Upon hearing about the incident , Bears ' head coach Lovie Smith stated , “ I haven ’ t had a chance to speak with Cedric yet , but anytime we ’ re talking about one of our players getting arrested , you ’ re disappointed in it , ” and added “ What we ’ re going to do from here , I ’ ll go back and try to get as much information as I possibly can and go from there . ” Benson was later found innocent by an Austin grand jury . Benson was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Austin on June 7 , 2008 . While returning from a restaurant with his girlfriend , police claim that Benson drove through a red light , and failed a field sobriety test . Police claim he later refused to take a breath or blood test to determine his blood alcohol level . Police proceeded to detain Benson , and later released him on bond . Benson has denied the police officers ' allegations , and insisted that he ' aced ' the field test . Bears general manager Jerry Angelo commented , “ It ’ s unfortunate . Disappointment is too much an often used word when we ’ re talking about Cedric . The No . 1 lesson for every player is protect your job . We ’ re all held accountable for our actions . I ’ m not going to say any more than that until we know for sure what the facts are . ” On the following Monday , Benson was waived from the Bears . Angelo commented on the release , stating ” Cedric displayed a pattern of behavior we will not tolerate . . . As I said this past weekend , you have to protect your job . Everyone in this organization is held accountable for their actions . " Benson was later ordered by a county judge to put a built - in ignition interlock breathalyzer in his car . He was also told to start drug counseling classes . Benson was cleared of all charges in September , after appearing before two grand juries in Travis County . 2010 arrest . On June 29 , 2010 , Benson was arrested for assault with injury after reportedly punching a bartender in the face . Benson himself denied committing the crime . Almost a month after the ordeal , the NFL announced that Benson would not be suspended . 2011 arrest . On July 17 , 2011 , Benson was arrested in Austin , Texas for a misdemeanor charge of assault causing bodily injury to a family member . He was sentenced to 20 days in jail and ordered to pay a $ 4 , 000 fine . Benson was released from jail on September 3 , after only five days of his sentence . He received a one game suspension , enacted in week 8 . 2012 court problems . On January 23 , 2013 if was disclosed that Benson was charged with having animals run without control , and ticketed in December 2012 and again in January 2013 by Manitowoc County , WI authorities . Court appearances will happen in January and February 2013 . Benson was also cited for driving 41 miles over the speed limit on January 1 , 2013 , and court appearance was not necessary , as Benson answered the court with a ' no contest ' plea , and paid a monetary fine . Personal . Benson ' s cousin , Aaron , is currently playing linebacker for Texas . Bensons nickname is " 2 Guns Up "