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Benson, a highly paid running back for the Bears, has had two previous brushes with the law during his college days in Texas.

The picture provided by his friend, Ms. Cartwright, clearly showed a vodka bottle in plain view - a good way to attract law enforcement. The place where the boat was boarded was a well known party place.

The fact that Benson’s boat was boarded six previous times shows that it would only be a matter of time until there might be trouble - especially in light of the fact that drinking was taking place on the boat.

Twenty-two fatalities had taken place in recent years on Lake Travis. This in itself, should have put Lake Travis on the map. Instead, it’s an NFL running back who gets that honor because of his latest brush with the law.

I have ridden in boats, in the past, where the owners did not allow drinking at all. Call it what you will. I call it good judgment and playing it safe.

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I whole heartedly agree and was very glad that Angelo made a point to not pass judgment upon Benson in terms of whether he told the truth or not and whether he was maltreated.

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mskrs:
Expect Cedric to abide by the rules and behave in a responsible manner, yes - but don’t expect him to avoid the lake entirely (ideally, shouldn’t it be *safe* to recreate in areas patrolled by law-enforcement?).
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Your points are all well-taken. But I stand by my position that Angelo’s comment makes perfect sense. Benson did put himself in the position to be the victim.

You have to deal with the world as it is, not how you’d like it to be. I agree that its a shame and it saddens me. But that’s the way it is.

Sorry.

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tshanno - I think it’s unfair to expect Benson to withdraw from this activity because law enforcement happen to be (overly?) zealous about doing their job. It’s one thing to expect athletes to disassociate themselves from “shady” civilians, or abstain from situations that are magnets for “questionable”, unlawful activity. But it’s taking things too far to expect that an athlete avoid normal recreation, and avoid *professionals* whose job it is to *fairly* enforce rules and *protect* Cedric - not unjustly do him harm. Are you saying that Cedric should have allowed those officers scare him away from the lake *entirely*? I’ll give you that perhaps he shouldn’t have been drinking - but even this is up for debate…since it is entirely within the law to drink “responsibly” (you know, drink w/o getting “drunk”) - and Cedric’s drinking could have fallen within these guidelines.

It is placing an unfair share of the burden on Cedric to “keep the peace” by expecting him to avoid the lake. Expect Cedric to abide by the rules and behave in a responsible manner, yes - but don’t expect him to avoid the lake entirely (ideally, shouldn’t it be *safe* to recreate in areas patrolled by law-enforcement?). In addition to the responsibility that Cedric has to conduct himself accordingly - the officers also bear some responsibility to enforce the rules in a fair, non-discriminatory manner.

I guess next, you will be saying that athletes shouldn’t go shopping because certain employees treat them like (potential) thieves and follow them around stores - and that may lead to some confrontation or (false) arrest. Ridiculous!

After that, you will be saying that athletes should not leave their homes at all, except to go to games and practices - because some random person is bound to cause them trouble at anytime. Asinine!

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Angelo’s comment makes perfect sense. Benson stated that he felt that he’d been targeted and his friend said that he’d been boarded at least six times. Yet, he was still out there. In addition, no one denies that he’d been drinking. Its no different than going to a bar or dance club where you know trouble might arise. As a pro athlete you do have a responsibility not to put yourself in that position and he, by his own admission, certainly did.

I might also mention that I think Angelo’s comments were more than appropriate in that they didn’t criticize Benson by going any farther. Angelo stuck to the facts and didn’t comment upon whether he believed Benson’s side of the story. That is obviously for a court to decide.

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It’s too bad Angelo chose to push him under the bus.

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As for football playing … Benson stiiiinks. But, some of that laughable production had to do with the Chicago Bears’ woeful offensive line. Adrian Peterson is much more explosive than he showed last year.

It’s that one of our strengths from the Super Bowl year in ‘06 turned to mush — fast. (Offensive line.)

Here’s hoping for Forte to the future and a successful season.

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Benson’s status will be determined by how will he runs the ball this season. Unfortunately, the Bears might have difficulty running the ball consistently and effectively until they have a credible passing offense.

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So by cutting Benson, they’d save 1.8 mil in cap room, AND they’d save 1.8 mil in actual dollars spent (since they wouldn’t have to pay his salary).

Personally, I think Benson will be cut as soon as he can pass a physical (a la Shaun Alexander). I don’t see the Bears keeping 4 active running backs this season, and I don’t see them cutting Garrett Wolfe over Benson. If they still planned on having Benson have a major role, they probably wouldn’t have drafted an “all-around” running back, and wouldn’t have spent a second rounder on him.

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