Former RB Benson dead at 36
No. 4 pick in 2005 killed in Texas motorcycle crash
Former NFL running back Cedric Benson, one of the most prolific rushers in NCAA and University of Texas history, has died in a motorcycle accident in Texas. He was 36.
Benson’s attorney, Sam Bassett, said Austin law enforcement told him that Benson was killed in the wreck Saturday night. He had no details about the accident.
Benson was a key player in the Longhorns’ resurgence under coach Mack Brown, who said Sunday that Benson’s death has left him grief-stricken.
“He was as good as you’ll ever see as a football player and as tough as they come,” said Brown, who recently returned to coach North Carolina following a long run at Texas.
Benson played at Texas from 2001-2004 and his 5,540 yards ranks second at the university and ninth in NCAA history. He scored 64 career touchdowns with the Longhorns and won the Doak Walker award, given to the nation’s top running back, in 2004.
Benson was drafted No. 4 overall by the Bears in 2005 and helped the team reach the playoffs the following season. He had his finest years with the Bengals from 2008-11, taking over as the featured back on a team that made the playoffs twice but lost in the first round each time.
Benson played one season with the Packers, where he started the first five games in 2012 before suffering a seasonending Lisfranc fracture.
Benson finished his NFL career with 6,017 yards and 46 touchdowns.
Bears waive kicker: The Bears’ kicking competition is over, for now, with Eddy Pineiro the winner.
The Bears announced Sunday that Elliott Fry was released after an offseason and preseason competition with Pineiro and several other kickers to replace Cody Parkey.
The Bears had been looking for a kicker since cutting Parkey following his “double-doink” field goal miss of 43 yards in their 16-15 playoff loss to the Eagles.
Coach Matt Nagy said Pineiro had not necessarily won the job for the regular-season opener against the Packers on Sept. 5.
“I want (players) to have the mentality that Eddy is going to be that guy, but we’re getting to that point right now where you’re getting toward the end of the training camps where there’s going to be transactions for a lot of different teams at a lot of different positions,” Nagy said.
Fry came in after the Alliance of American Football folded. He kicked in college for South Carolina and had kicked in the AAF for Orlando. The Bears acquired Pineiro in a trade with Oakland for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2021.
Raiders GM calls out Brown: Raiders general manager Mike Mayock told disgruntled wide receiver Antonio Brown it’s time to decide whether he’s “all in or all out” about playing this season.
Mayock issued a statement the team released in a video on Twitter expressing frustration that Brown didn’t practice Sunday despite being healed from the frost-bitten feet that have sidelined him for most of camp. Brown also lost a grievance with the league to allow him to use a helmet that is no longer certified as safe.
Mayock said Brown is still upset, but the Raiders have done everything they could to help him.
Extra points: The Patriots granted veteran WR Dontrelle Inman’s request to be released, ESPN reported. Inman, 30, spent last season with the Colts and signed a one-year contract with the Patriots in May . ... Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians confirmed Saturday night that the team had given GM Jason Licht, 48, a four-year contract extension in January. The deal includes a fifth-year club option in 2023.