Golden: Cedric Benson has not made any noise in a short time with us

Cedric Benson told his truth.

Of all the players who have been to the University of Texas, he has always told the truth, even if it does not align with the usually politically correct sounds that dominate the current sports scene.

Sometimes his truth spoke to his power on the ground where he was statistically the second most prolific return in Longhorn uniform. At other times, his words ruffled the feathers of his own camp. In the end, Benson was a heterosexual shooter who lived by his own rules and I always respected that part of his personality.

Benson died Saturday night at the age of 36 after a motorcycle accident. Anyone who has been around him for a prolonged period would attest that he has lived a life of freedom with few limitations. He flew luxury boats, rode on horseback and drove beautiful vehicles. He has been spinning records in local clubs and in recent years he had plunged his personal pen into the mortgage business.

Benson's life off the field was in a nutshell complicated. While other NFL graduates based in Austin were quietly retiring, he continued to make bad news. His personal life hit the headlines and many of us wondered if things would ever calm down in his world.

He had his demons. Many who knew him hoped that he would find peace in his private life.

"He was beginning to understand some things," said Rod Babers, a local radio personality who played two seasons with Benson in Texas. "We talked about it not so long ago and he said that he was setting up to start a family and do things in the community. He had just concluded his plea agreement and helped rebuild the home of one of the victims of the Austin bombing. His life was going in the right direction. "

Unfortunately, everything is over much too early.

Life presented its own problems, but for the guy that many of us called Ced B, his talent was undeniable. He ran for 5,540 yards and 69 touchdowns during his university career, after one of the most dominant preparatory races in the history of this sport. Midland Lee has won three 5A titles in all four seasons. He scored five touchdowns in every league game, including his last in 2000, a 33-21 win over Westlake and future MLB star Huston Street at the Royal Memorial Stadium.

With 32,000 participants, Benson ran 40 times for 248 yards, marking his imminent arrival on campus. The next four years have been among the most productive performances of the program with his last two seasons in the backfield with quarterback Vince Young. He is the only Texas to have four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Although his eight seasons in the NFL have not been as exceptional as those recorded at Midland and Austin, his 6,017 career yards are still ranked 88th in the history of the league. .

That's what I really liked about Ced. Whenever we asked him a difficult question, he answered with wonderful candor. Kirk Bohls and I have always been amazed by his honesty because it was common knowledge that players were trained to give programmed answers. Benson was on a short list of players who misplaced the company's memo. When asked when he was forced to choose between winning a Heisman and beating Oklahoma, he opposed the grain of the team and chose the Heisman.

He did not do it to upset his coaches or teammates. Cedric Benson was simply answering a fashionable question from Cedric Benson.

He was steadfastly honest until the end.