Cedric Benson is innocent until proven guilty... That's why I have been almost quiet on his boating incident.
Its good to see friends and people who were on the boat come forth and speak up for him in defense of what happened. I think this will play itself out and we will be better off letting the law have its way in this matter.
Regardless of how that situation plays itself out, in my opinion, Benson is STILL an aloof, overpaid, underachieving bust. 
I still find it interesting how Benson even became a Bear.
Let’s all remember that following the 2002 season, Jerry Angelo announced that Anthony Thomas was not an elite running back. Decent, but not elite. So prior to the 2004 season, Angelo signed Thomas Jones to a very reasonable contract before the sun rose on the first day of free agency. Jones was a perfect fit for Terry Shea’s hybrid Kansas City/St. Louis offense, we were told.
Following a miserable offensive season in 2004, Shea was fired and Ron Turner hired. Jones didn't do too bad and actually put pretty good numbers in rushing, receiving, and as a blocker. Angelo thought they needed more of a POWER runner coming out of the backfield, more in the mold of a Marshall Faulk with SPEED, AGILITY, and POWER.
I didn't object to that opinion. I thought we could definitely use a stronger back seeing as though Thomas Jones had been injured most of his NFL career. I thought to get a bigger back in the mold of a Larry Johnson might not be such a bad idea. But when I heard the pre-draft knocks on Benson, I wasn't too enthusiastic. Many scouts compared him to Ricky Williams. A physically BLESSED individual, but a head case. Questions of his motivation and desire were on the minds of Mel Kiper and many other websites. I thought...
... "so what makes this an upgrade over A. Thomas and T. Jones?"
But alas, that’s not how it worked out, and Bear fans sit in the offensive morass year after year. Indeed, the Benson saga prompted Pro Football Talk to release their bust list from the 2005 first round, and Benson sits VISIBLY on the list.
Let’s just hope that Angelo thinks Matt Forte is an elite back, after investing a high second-round choice in him.
