Cédric Benson, the former half-bear Bears: a blow – and a reminder



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The announcement of Cedric Benson's death last night in a motorcycle accident was a sore blow on Sunday. The former Bears rearman and a passenger were killed when the motorcycle they were using collided with a van in Austin, Texas. The former Bears defenseman and Benson's teammate Adewale Ogunleye tweeted Sunday, "What the heck is it? The bad news will not stop.

Personally, that kind of thing hits hard. The death of receiver coach Darryl Drake last week, from the former first of 1994, John Thierry, who died last November – from a heart attack to 46 years – from a suicide committed by Rasha Salaam in December 2016, and now by Ced. It's too many good young people dying.

And yet, even as Benson's news came out, Bears was beating his colleague Rich Campbell at the Tribune celebrating the birth of his daughter. You do not know why it sounds so striking, maybe just something about the circle of life, or how sunny it is somewhere.

As in many of these things, the death of Cedar leaves memories, and in this case, good memories. Which may seem a little unlikely, since Ced was one of the least popular Bears in its three years (2005-2007) after the organization placed it fourth in this 2005 project.

But things are not always what they seem to be.

Benson suffered a 36-day wait before reporting to the team, missing just about all of the training camp and pre-season of 2005. Upon arrival, the locker room seemed well glued to him, for various reasons:

He was selected to replace Thomas Jones, the very popular tailback that was signed during the 2004 off season, but failed to impress the first year of a $ 10 million four-year contract. Jones and he did not hear each other and had just one practice and their teammates were clearly Jones supporters.

But Jones had zero thousand yards in his first five seasons. Beginning in 2005 and the arrival of Benson, he has traveled five consecutive seasons, totaling no less than 1,100 yards, two with the Bears, and three with the New York Jets after organizing an exchange to leave Chicago.

And Ced was just … different. But for this reporter, different from good. He was very attentive. more than once, he was asked a question, then took an unusually long time to answer. But he was just a thoughtful guy.

Example: during training camp 2006 in the Bourbonnais, I organized a meeting with Ced before noon, in front of Ced. Ced answered one of my questions: "Hmm, that's an interesting question. Let me get back to you. "

Much later during the afternoon, after a brutal practice at the full pad, I moved away from the fields. Ced came running, still in underpants. "Hey," he said. "I thought about what we were talking about …" And he did it. And he was also honest about coming back to me. Yes, I liked the guy.

The Bears let him go after a disappointing 2007 season and he made himself known to the Cincinnati Bengals the following year. In 2009, the Bears went to Cincinnati and were eliminated 45-10, placing 215 yards on a very good Bears and Benson defense with 189 yards.

Subsequently, I was able to catch up with Ced before he left and I was stunned to see how much he looked physical. He laughed to my surprise, then spoke at length about how he had discovered a severe intolerance to gluten. This settled, his complexion cleared up and he did not deal with any intestinal problems that any fan with contaminated gluten knows too well. Anyway, it was great to see a young man embark on a sort of career, which included that year and the next two years with over 1,000 yards.

That it did not happen to him in Chicago was always a little confusing. He was a phenomenal athlete, good enough to be selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers and play in their summer league.

It was a very very emotional guy. At Halas Hall on Sunday, we remembered how much he had been crying over his conference call with the media after it was written by the Bears. And he had his problems off the field and was relinquished in the 2008 offseason after two arrests for alleged alcohol abuse.

These are probably the things that too many people will remember from Ced. Pity. There was a lot more for the young man. And as has been said before, things – and people – are not always all that they seem to be. In this column, I would add Thomas Jones' tweet Sunday. From a supposed "enemy:"

"I have learned the horrible news of the death of Cedric Benson," Jones said. "My heart hurts for him and his family. Sending love, peace and blessings in their own way. Party too early my brother. Rest well young king. We will really miss you … "

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