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As first reported on the web site of Austin-based KVUE television, Cedric Benson was arrested Saturday evening on Lake Travis by officers with the Texas Park and Wildlife and Lower Colorado River Association.
Benson was arrested for boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest, both Class B misdemeanors.
He is currently out on a $14,500 bail.
A spokeswoman for the Lower Colorado River Authority, which patrols the river, confirmed the arrest Sunday morning. The Chicago Tribune reported that Benson allegedly failed a sobriety "float test," a version of a field sobriety test administered on a boat.
Police told the Tribune that Benson argued over taking a follow-up sobriety test on land and refused to put on a life jacket. Officers tried to arrest Benson, but he resisted and police used pepper spray to subdue him.
As Tribune staffer Vaughn McClure reminded readers this morning that Benson, who had his 2007 season cut short by a broken leg, was in jeopardy of losing his starting spot even before the arrest.
Despite getting a chance to show he could be a star after the Bears traded away running back Thomas Jones, Benson was falling far short of expectations before he was hurt.
The fourth-overall pick of the 2005 draft has struggled through his first three seasons with the Bears, failing to post a 1,000-yard campaign while averaging just 3.8 yards per carry. Benson averaged a career-low 3.4 yards per carry last season, finishing with 674 yards on 196 carries with four touchdowns in 11 games started. He missed the final five games with the leg injury.
The Bears sent a clear sign that they wanted more production from their running back by selecting Tulane's Matt Forte in the second round of this year's draft.
As Chicago Sun-Times staffer Mike Mulligan recently suggested, if "Benson wasn't already a bona fide bust before [the last weekend's draft], the Bears declared him thus by using their second-round pick, No. 44 overall, to select his replacement, Forte."
Forte was the focal point of the opposing defense every week at Tulane and still put up numbers.
His ability to get to the outside and catch the ball out of the backfield were dimensions the Bears missed with Benson in the lineup, although McClure reminded readers that Benson showed flashes against Seattle and Denver last season.
Still, general manager Jerry Angelo, who as the man responsible for drafting him has more personal stock invested in Benson than anybody else in the organization, has made no secret of the fact his guy will have to compete for a starting assignment this fall.
"He's got to compete," Angelo first said in February. "He's got to go out there and win the job. We're going to try to create competition at the position."
Angelo has said the same a number of times since -- before selecting Forte, who (perhaps not coincidentally) was characterized by the Sports Xchange as "a high-character guy."
And Forte's chances of emerging as a major contributor this fall improve greatly with Benson apparently doing what he can off the field to make the team's decision on the field a little bit easier. ...
It might be worth noting that Benson had a couple of brushes with the law during his college days.
He was arrested for marijuana possession in May of 2002 in his hometown of Midland, Texas. The charges were dropped when he passed a drug test and other evidence surfaced to clear him. In October of 2003, he was arrested for criminal trespassing after kicking down an apartment door in Austin, believing his $15,000 plasma television was inside.
(Anybody else wondering what a college kid is doing with a $15,000 TV?)
He received an eight-day jail sentence but never went behind bars because of time served on the day of the arrest, good behavior, and the lack of available beds at the local prison. ...
Keep an eye on the News and Views section of the site for more on Benson's arrest and the Bears' reaction.