Cedric Benson’s teammates something short of supportive

May 15th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

The more and more I read and think about Cedric Benson’s boating incident, the more inclined I am to believe Benson’s account of the story. Rather, the truth probably lies somewhere between Benson’s story and the police’s, but if I had to guess, I’d assume it Benson was marginally closer to the truth than the cops were. For whatever reason, Benson doesn’t strike me as the type to get “stubborn” with Texas river cops; you’d think he’d know how bad an idea that was.

Anyway, Benson made his first public appearance since the charges were filed by bowling at teammate Jason McKie’s “Celebowl” in Vernon Hills. Benson didn’t give an interview, but his teammates did, and I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but these guys seem less than “supportive”:

His teammates have voiced their support. Garrett Wolfe said it was admirable for Benson to show up despite the negative attention he has received. Adewale Ogunleye said he understands how police can sometimes become overzealous in such situation — and that athletes can be stubborn, too — and he hopes that Benson’s case involved overzealous officers.

“I think he knows the players are trying to support him,” offensive coordinator Ron Turner said.

Are they, Ron? While Adewale Ogunleye’s thoughts on the matter seem well-intentioned, he’s not exactly riding for Cedric’s innocence, is he? Support is usually a little more enthusiastic than “Well, maybe he didn’t do it. Maybe he did. How do I know?” Or maybe Adewale is just apathetic about everything. He is a Gen-Xer, you know.