Ex-FSU star gains strength after injury
Carolina Panthers WR
caught 63 passes for 941 yards and seven touchdowns last season. He was no
but the numbers were not bad. Imagine what Benjamin could have done on two good legs.
“Probably later in the year, I started really not to favor it anymore, just forget about it,’’ Benjamin said. “This is my first offseason back. Instead of rehabbing, I get to get ready for the upcoming season.’’
Benjamin missed the 2015 regular season after tearing the ACL in his left knee in August. He was injured during a joint training-camp practice with the Miami Dolphins in Spartanburg, S.C. The injury was non-contact but sent Benjamin reeling with the first major injury he had experienced at any level of football.
“It’s tough because you just can’t go back out and go 100 percent,’’ said Benjamin, who is among the players working out this offseason with well-respected trainer
at Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. “You have to work your way back up.
“It took away from my last offseason, because I couldn’t really work out. It was mostly rehabbing, strengthening my legs, trying to strengthen the muscles around my knee. This year, I get to do a little more cardio, a little more sprinting, different things that I couldn’t do last year.’’
The Panthers grabbed Benjamin, 26, with the 28th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and the former FSU standout delivered immediately. He latched on to 73 passes for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns as Carolina repeated as NFC South champions. They lost 31-17 to the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Benjamin’s injury rendered him a spectator as the Panthers fell 24-10 to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, Calif. He returned for the season-opening rematch last September, producing six receptions for 91 yards and a TD.
Shaw remembered that game for something else.
“He got hit in his first COMMENTARY game,’’ Shaw said. “He went off the field and jumped right back in there. It just scared him once he got hit. Someone hit him low.’’
With Benjamin’s knee fully recovered — “Since I’ve already been through a season, I know it is strong enough to survive,’’ he said — he is anticipating a bounce-back season personally and for the Panthers. Carolina plummeted to 6-10, last in its division, in 2016.
“I started off well, and then as a team, we hit that rock in the road,’’ Benjamin said. “That carried on for everybody. It was a bad season all around for the whole team, not just myself. I was kind of disappointed.’’ Not anymore. Benjamin (6-5, 245) is expecting big things. So are those around him.
“This year will be another breakout year for him, just like his first year was,’’ Shaw said. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we present five fun facts about the only player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the last name spelled Green: (Former defensive lineman and linebacker also are in the Hall.)
1. The Washington Redskins took Green with the 28th and final pick of the first round in 1983, one selection after the Dolphins chose
2. Green played more games (295) at cornerback than any player in NFL history.
3. He had at least one interception in every one of his 20 pro seasons, except one: his final season (2002). Green finished with 54 career INTs.
4. His first career INT returned for a score came on Dec. 9, 1984, at Texas Stadium, helping the Redskins erase a 15-point halftime deficit and beat the Dallas Cowboys 30-28.
5. Green, 57, is one of three Hall of Famers who played for the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas.
and are the others.
Three former UCF players signed free-agent contracts this week. DB
a specialteams standout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Atlanta Falcons S-LB
remained with their current teams, and RB joined the Minnesota Vikings after four seasons with the Oakland Raiders. … Happy belated birthday to Hall of Famer
one of the game’s top executives with the Baltimore Ravens. Newsome turned 61 on Thursday. … A shoutout to
who finished his career with 138.5 sacks — eighth in league history. Only the Panthers’
(143.5) has more among active players. … CB 38, has a ways to go to catch Green, but he re-signed with the Minnesota Vikings this week for what would be his 15th NFL season.