Cedric Myron Benson (December 28, 1982 – August 17, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was selected by the Chicago Bears with the fourth overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft and also played for the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers. Early life Benson began to emerge as a football stand-out in the eighth grade while attending Abell Junior High School in Midland, Texas, under Coach Chris McKinney. Benson attended Robert E. Lee High School in Midland, Texas, and finished his high school playing career with 8,423 rushing yards (the most in Texas 5A history, largest classification at the time, and the fourth most in Texas high school football history). He led his team to three consecutive State Championships, and rushed for a total of 15 touchdowns in the three championship games. Benson rushed for more than 1,900 yards in only 9 games. He rushed for over 3,500 yards (51 touchdowns) his junior year in an undefeated State and National Championship season. He was the first high school player ever to make the cover of Dave Campbell's Texas Football annual magazine. Benson was also a center fielder on the baseball team. As a senior, in District 4-5A games, he hit .361 with 4 home runs and 14 RBIs. College career Benson attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a four-year starter for the Longhorns football team. As a senior in 2004, he received the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He finished his college career with 5,540 rushing yards to rank tenth all time in NCAA Division I-A history, and second only to Ricky Williams in Longhorns team history. He has often been compared to Williams, due to their similarities in running style, college choice, legal complications, and superficial appearance (roughly the same size and build coming out of college, and both had dreadlocks early in their careers), and the fact that they had both been minor league baseball players. While attending the University of Texas, Benson majored in social work and sociology. During his latter years, he earned membership into the Texas' Athletics Director's Academic Honor Roll, and the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll in fall of