A New Note On Cedric Benson

by WCG on May 7, 2008 9:50 AM CDT

I reported on Benson getting arrested, but I wasn't going to get into the whole his story versus their story until any type of action or resolution came about, but I found this new piece of information interesting.

One of the passengers on the boat, called her parents and asked them to call 911.

"I called my dad and told him, 'Call 911, my black friend is getting beaten up by police on Lake Travis,' " said Elizabeth Cartwright, 22, a friend of Benson's from the University of Texas. "It's more what I heard than what I saw. I have never heard or seen Cedric that scared."

Cartwright put in writing her version of the events on Lake Travis that resulted in Benson being charged with boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest.

She says she is willing to submit her document as evidence supporting his account. She said her fiance also took dozens of photographs that help corroborate her claims.

Now this could all just be just a play, but calling your parent and asking them to call 911 seems like odd thing to do especially when the police are on the boat. It almost feels like something a scared and desperate person would do. Now I am wonder if Benson's side might be more truthful that I originally thought.

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It could just be more bullsh*t. If the police had a reason to treat Benson roughly, obviously his friends on the boat wouldn’t like it, and they would threaten the police by yelling at them to leave him alone or they would call 911 on them. When they didn’t, this person called her parents, and not 911 herself (red flag) and probably yelled loudly so that the police could hear for her parents to call 911, which they never did. Just some empty threats to try to get them to stop being rough with her friend. She’s a 22-year-old woman, she couldn’t have called 911 herself if she wanted to? Doesn’t add up.

Official Windy City Gridiron Contributor

by Doctor Chicago on May 7, 2008 10:07 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

I was wrong

the father did call 911, but “A Travis County spokesman wouldn’t confirm or deny Tuesday night that a 911 call had been placed regarding the incident.”

Yeah, this could definitely be a case of police brutality against a minority, but Benson’s past just doesn’t earn him the benefit of the doubt.

Official Windy City Gridiron Contributor

by Doctor Chicago on May 7, 2008 10:56 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

What has he done to imply he's dishonest?

Lazy? Injury-prone? Selfish? Sure. Doesn’t imply dishonest, though. Unless i’m missing quotes, which is possible.

by tyger1147 on May 7, 2008 12:35 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Either way

I would like the bears to go in a different direction at the RB situation. If he is innocent the police officers need to be brought up on charges.

by SuperBowlXX on May 7, 2008 10:11 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

or maybe she's telling the truth

Did you read the entire story in the Tribune posted today? Benson’s boat has been pulled over every time he’s been out on that water (7 times!), and this time they gave him an alcohol test to boot. No charges have ever been filed previously, until this incident. You don’t think you’d be just a little suspicious if this had happened to you out on Lake Michigan? Sounds a lot like my friend’s many encounters with the local police in his city – often referred to as “DWB.” I wouldn’t give some cops in podunk Texas the benefit of the doubt just yet. -

by Waylon on May 7, 2008 10:14 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

the whole thing seems shady

i’m not sure if cedric is completely innocent, but at the very least, there is a lot of reasonable doubt about what happened. this story helps him quite a bit. if they have photos from the incident, that’ll help, too. if the cops did anything close to what benson said they did, i hope he gets them in court. police treatment of minorities in this country is absolutely atrocious. this sounds like another instance of it.

by guy incognito on May 7, 2008 10:28 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

best part

””By the time Benson was in handcuffs, he was screaming, “Please stop, Mom, make them please stop.”””

cries on draft day. screams for mommy to protect him from the cops. cut this fool now.

Super Bowl XLI MVP Rex Grossman
Chicago Bulls Captain and Starting Point Guard Kirk Hinrich...
Same Person

by 234L on May 7, 2008 10:38 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

yes, lets laugh at him about this

because there isn’t a long history of cops beating the hell out of black people in this country. there isn’t a long history of cops destroying black people’s lives in this country. and even if there was, there’s no way benson could possibly know anything about this and possibly freak out when all this started going down (especially if it comes out that he wasn’t drunk, that the cops have been harassing him on his boat many times now, and that they were the aggressors in this case).

by guy incognito on May 7, 2008 10:57 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

LMAO

dude even if the cops were entirely unprovoked and beat him and pepper sprayed him anyway… the fool screamed for his mom to make them stop. This takes Campbells soup commercials to an entire new level. MOM don’t let the defense tackle me!!

Super Bowl XLI MVP Rex Grossman
Chicago Bulls Captain and Starting Point Guard Kirk Hinrich...
Same Person

by 234L on May 7, 2008 11:11 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

like i said

it is kind of funny and lame, but given the context of the situation, i think using it as another reason to cut the guy is ridiculous. i’ll laugh about it, but i definitely won’t use it as something to hold against him. him screaming “get your muthaf*&king hands off me, racist pig!” would have been more appropriate and better for his repuation, but i don’t think that would have helped the situation.

by guy incognito on May 7, 2008 11:29 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

you know

i don’t believe the problem is that he was black, i believe the problem is that he is a well known athlete. but yeah, everything is racial.

by lopey986 on May 7, 2008 12:47 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Right. You're a tough guy. You could kick everyone's ass.

We get it.

by tyger1147 on May 7, 2008 12:37 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

just yours

(jk) i’m not saying i’m tough. but i haven’t screamed for my mommy for a good couple of hours. i agree the the racial situation in america is tragic. i know its cool to be anti-police and I’m all for less government interference in people lives but i don’t think this is a racist conspiracy. cops are drawn to illegal activity (admitting that i wasnt there and dont know him) and the guy seems like a dumbass… its not beyond the realm of possibility that the police had (at least in their mind) justification for using force. If y’all are right and his rights were violated and there was no justification then he will use his millions of dollars to get a lawyer. yea the system sucks and yea it is worse for black men, but the system does like the wealthy. Even if this was another tragic example of whatever racism cliche u prefer what did he expect his mom to do? get in there and mix it up with the cops? get pepper sprayed? maybe cutting him is harsh, but this guy just aint right. IMO screaming for his mom is more insightful into his character than the arrest/incident.

Super Bowl XLI MVP Rex Grossman
Chicago Bulls Captain and Starting Point Guard Kirk Hinrich...
Same Person

by 234L on May 7, 2008 4:52 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

also

he was in a KNOWN party spot that the police are trying to controll the partying in that area. I rember when i was a kid ans we used to have this happen to us regularly. If you are in a spot that the cops are eyeing, Move to another spot that way they cant go to one spot and target you. I dont have a college degree but i do have street smarts. Shoud had taken that course Ced.

by SuperBowlXX on May 8, 2008 8:42 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

they clearly don't teach writing classes on the "streets".

i wish someone had told me that sportsnation had replaced rationality with caps lock.

by MarketMaker on May 8, 2008 6:14 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Well this story has taken

a turn for the weirder. A strange story keeps getting somewhat stranger. It reminds me of the Lance Briggs Lambo incident. No one knew where he was and it was just a weird event. This however, is even bigger. Maybe that girl was already on the phone with her father when the cops showed up and so when they started treating Ced Ben roughly she told him to make a 911 call. All I know is that at this point they haven’t released what his BAC was at the time and that makes it look worse for them. I know BWI is different from a BUI but either way if they end up coming out and saying he was like .05 or even just a .07 then they look worse and these charges will get dropped. The chances right now make it seem like the charges could get dropped.

by GallopingGhost on May 7, 2008 10:52 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

he didn't blow

from what i understand he refused to blow and submitted to a field sobriety test instead.

by lopey986 on May 7, 2008 12:48 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

But if they took him back to land (for more tests)

And dragged him in a car and all that but then didn’t do more tests? I realize that even if they did his BAC would have dropped because a lot of time passed between the boat and land and he was crying and probably sweating and moving around. Either way the police went through all this trouble and didn’t even get BAC for him? Then wow they really might have screwed that up.

by GallopingGhost on May 7, 2008 1:10 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

well

the police cannot force someone to blow. if benson said he didn’t want to blow then he didn’t want to blow and that is that. nothing the police can do about that, short of holding you down and plugging your nose thus forcing you to blow into the breathalyzer, but that evidence would be admissable and be thrown out in a second.

the word is he failed the field sobriety test (what the hell kind of sobriety test can they give you on a damn unstable boat that is rocking, even under the slightest waves it is easy to lose your balance in a boat) and when they said they were taking him back to land to do more tests he said he would rather go back to his boat, this is what jumped it off and led to him being sprayed and dragged off the boat onto land and into a car.

by lopey986 on May 8, 2008 2:33 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Via his Lawyer's advice.

by SuperBowlXX on May 8, 2008 8:44 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Who let the Troll in?

“This takes Campbells soup commercials to an entire new level.”

And this also takes Trolldome to an entirely new level as well.

by Waylon on May 7, 2008 12:20 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Travis County.

I’ve lived in Travis County on and off since 2002, and I can certainly confirm that Austin has got the worst relationship between its black community (tiny as it is) and its police department of any city I’ve ever spent a good amount of time in. Two years ago a number of cops were suspended for celebrating, rather than helping evacuate, when a black nightclub in town was on fire; there are so few black folks in Austin that racial problems are magnified to levels that are unheard of in a city as ostensibly progressive as Austin. In a situation where you have an equal amount of evidence from a young black man and the APD, the tie definitely goes to the running back.

—d

by itsugly on May 7, 2008 8:02 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

that's why some people wait until more of the story comes out.

“This just further points to Cedric Benson’s horrible and lackadaisical attitude. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are, he believes he is untouchable and never has anything to worry about. He has always has a sense of entitlement and while I don’t know what the Bears will do, I have to imagine they have at least considered trading or cutting him.”

otherwise you might look like a total ass speaking on subjects that you really have no idea about. but i guess some people are in such a hurry to get their ignorant, uninformed opinions out that they don’t have time to wait for both sides of a story.

i wish someone had told me that sportsnation had replaced rationality with caps lock.

by MarketMaker on May 7, 2008 10:00 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

If you don't like the site

shove off.

Don’t give me this crap about not reporting on it. What type of Bears site is this if we don’t?

Being Who You Thought We Were Since 2005!

by WCG on May 8, 2008 9:18 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Sick 'em WGC!

by SuperBowlXX on May 8, 2008 10:22 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

you managed to screw up a 3 word comment, genius.

i wish someone had told me that sportsnation had replaced rationality with caps lock.

by MarketMaker on May 8, 2008 6:13 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

the news is great, the opinions are fine, but this 1 + 1 = 3 bullshit doesn't do anyone any good.

and like i said before, the quote i referenced is said based on benson’s performance. these “character” issues are only being viewed as such because he had a lousy season. are you honestly saying this would be the same comment if the alledged crime involved tommie harris or urlacher instead of benson? or course not. use the facts to state your opinion, don’t use hearsay to make pronouncements. some of the weaker minded people on this site are likely to take your opinions as fact otherwise.

and to clarify, i only take issue with this because it seems out of character on the site.

i wish someone had told me that sportsnation had replaced rationality with caps lock.

by MarketMaker on May 8, 2008 6:12 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

A lot of people feel Benson should go

I understand the desire to be fair, but how about being fair to the fans who are upset by the behavior that underlies the entire incident? Partying where a police crackdown is going on is dumb… it’s not smart…

Your reference to Harris and Urlacher makes exactly the opposite point you hoped. People respect them because they produce on the field. So far CB hasn’t…

Is that fair? Maybe not. But when you or I don’t produce our employers fire us.

by modai on May 9, 2008 2:32 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

my point WAS that people respect urlacher and harris because they have produced.

and that people would look for ways to excuse those same actions if they were the ones to do it. bears fans that are frustrated with benson are the people jumping on this issue. this is really not a big deal, and it won’t get in the way of benson’s ability to play football. and shouldn’t that be the point of everyone’s concern? if he rushes for 1200 yards next year, no one will bring up this transgression. people who want benson out at rb are using this as some kind of evidence that he should be ousted. so to conclude, it is pretty clear that the anti-benson bears fans on this site are using his on-field performance to make judgements on this incident. no team is going to hold onto bad players who behave poorly off the field, but the nfl is littered with good players who behave really poorly off the field.

i wish someone had told me that sportsnation had replaced rationality with caps lock.

by MarketMaker on May 10, 2008 12:01 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

who made that comment that you quoted?

by mike b on May 8, 2008 7:25 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

i believe

the person who first broke the story regarding benson’s arrest…big_lowitzki.

by lopey986 on May 9, 2008 1:46 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

I belive the quote

was from my original story and while I don’t intend to lead anybody on, the fact is this is a blog and a blog without opinion is just a news feeder, something I have no intention of being.

That said I stand by my quote even not counting this incident. Benson has a piss poor attitude and a sense of entitlement that he has not earned. If LT has a slightly less than great year and SD drafts a running back for depth, then LT has the right to have an attitude of this spot is mine, but Benson does not he has had in his three years one half a good season combine and that was as a backup. For the sack of his career here or wherever he may end up he needs to drop the attitude and start working hard and showing something.

Being Who You Thought We Were Since 2005!

by WCG on May 9, 2008 7:57 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

More of the story

This is good. I’m still not convinced. She says that she called because she heard Benson cry out. Fine, but someone is going to cry out when they get hit with pepper spray. She didn’t see anything and she “thinks” Benson wasn’t drunk. She apparently doesn’t know for sure. Her story does little to prove anything except that Benson was arrested and reacts normally to pepper spray.

I’ve never said the police were never in the wrong and this goes to make the point that both parties probably screwed up and are too proud to admit it. Benson would be crying as he was arrested, that’s part of what pepper spray does. So that means nothing. The father’s words on the phone mean nothing—he didn’t see it or hear it. All he got was his daughter’s side. Until we see what these photos are, we have to continue to reserve final judgment on the situation. Although, I’m wondering what type of photos could corroborate her story if no one could see Benson.

by bs1220 on May 7, 2008 11:16 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

This story smells bad

I read that apparently Benson refused a breathalyzer test, citing his lawyers advice. From what I’ve read that means he will likely lose his driver’s license. One of the people on the boat said she did not know what Benson was drinking…

Maybe he can show some evidence the police were on an ego trip, but at the moment I doubt it. Even if he does, he should still go. Partying where you know the police are cracking down is poor judgement.

Can you ever imagine Michael Jordan or Mike Singletary or even Grossman getting busted for resisting arrest? No way.

Benson needs to move on and hopefully ressurect his career in another town.

by modai on May 9, 2008 2:23 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs