Former Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson died in a motorcycle accident on Saturday night.
According to various reports, including TMZ, former University of Texas and Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson passed away following a motorcycle accident in Austin, Texas on Saturday night. He was 36 years old.
Per TMZ, Benson “was reportedly driving his bike with a passenger when they got into an accident with another vehicle around 10 PM.” The passenger, a woman in her 30s according to KVUE in Austin, was also killed, while two others were injured. Authorities cited “speed and poor visibility were the biggest factors in the crash.”
Benson was the fourth-overall pick of the Bears in the 2005 NFL Draft and played for the team for three seasons before heading to the Cincinnati Bengals. He spent one year with the Green Bay Packers in 2012 before retiring. On his career, he totaled 6,017 rushing yards and also appeared in five playoff games. He was a Longhorns standout before that, with 5,540 rushing yards and was the winner of the Doak Walker award in 2004, given to the top running back in college football.
In a statement released to KVUE, Benson’s lawyer Sam Bassett said:
Cedric was not just a client, he was my friend. He was immensely talented and fierce on the football field yet most have no idea the difficulties he overcame to achieve what he did. Though imperfect in some respects, once Cedric was your friend you understood how kind, sensitive and loyal he was as a man. He was like a younger brother or nephew to me. I will miss him very much
We send our condolences to Benson’s friends and family during this difficult time.