Reflecting on the Cedric Benson 'Error' (See what I did there?)

I think everyone is happy that Cedric Benson is gone. I said on the podcast and on FCP that I didn’t really care if the Bears cut him, but, more than anything, that was just so I wouldn’t have to live with Adrian Peterson getting meaningful carries. Seriously, I hate that guy. He tries hard and whatever, but has zero talent. Let’s just hope Matt Forte is as good as the hype would suggest. Or, as my father suggested, maybe the Bears sign Kevin Jones? Who knows.

Both papers did excellent work regarding Benson. The Trib’s David Haugh leads with this amazing anecdote:

He wasn't crying because he was overcome with joy or pride.

He wasn't crying over the honor of running in the city where Walter Payton ran or playing for a proud franchise that reveres its football stars or any other reason he has offered the past three years.

No, Cedric Benson cried on the day of the NFL draft in 2005 because he was upset the Bears took him with the fourth overall selection.

Benson was bugged that Jerry Angelo decided to draft him despite Benson's representatives making clear in a last-minute phone call that they and the Bears weren't on the same page regarding fundamental contract demands.

That’s some pretty heavy stuff right there. During that draft, I wanted Mike Williams (yikes) but was sold on Ced eventually after a while. He was just so great, so productive in college. It didn’t seem to be a question of ‘will he be good?’ it was ‘for how long can he be good?’ because of all the carries he accumulated at Texas.

The Sun-Times’ Mike Mulligan threw this haymaker:

But in a lot of ways, there should be celebration over the closure to the career of the biggest bust in Bears history.

Biggest bust in Bears history? Jeez, where to begin? In my lifetime, seemingly all the first round picks have been busts besides for Urlacher. Let’s go through the ones that have happened since I can remember watching football:

07: TE Greg Olsen- Pretty much everyone thinks Olsen is going to be awesome. He wasn’t great as a rookie, but should be the Bears’ best receiver this year.

06: no pick (traded down for D. Manning)

05: RB Benson: Buuuuust.

04: DT Tommie Harris: Probably the best defensive tackle in football. He’s about to get a huge contract but his injury history causes some worries.

03: DE Michael Haynes, QB Rex Grossman: The Bears traded down from the fourth pick to get these two. Few first round picks ever were less productive than Haynes (though he could have been a victim of a system change after Jauron left). Say what you will about Grossman, but he’s at least the most exciting Bears quarterback of my lifetime and he did lead them to a Super Bowl.

02: OT Marc Columbo: Could have been good but suffered a ridiculously bad knee injury. He’s turned into a decent guard for the Cowboys.

01: WR David Terrell: Buuuuuust. I'm sure Stompy loved this pick as a cool 14-year old, though. I refuse to believe otherwise.

00: LB Brian Urlacher: One of the best two linebackers of his generation.

99: QB Cade McNown: Buuuust. Earned the #1 spot on TTCS’ list of biggest busts ever.

98: RB Curtis Enis: Buuuuust.

97: No pick (traded for Rick Mirer)

96: CB Walt Harris: Somehow still trucking. I remember I saw a poster when the Bears drafted him reading “75% of the Earth is covered by water. The rest is covered by Walt Harris.” He kind of sucked for the Bears, but he probably cracks the top five on this list.

95: RB Rashaan Salaam: Buuuust. It was all the coke’s fault.

Yeah. Benson is certainly up there. He was drafted higher than Enis (who went five), McNown (who went 12), and DT (seven). So maybe he is. None of those guys were as bad off the field, either. And no one cried on draft day because they thought they would make a few less million dollars.

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More Benson hate at TTCS. Yeah, I had no fun last night.