When a person is pulled over and suspected to be intoxicated while driving, police officers will routinely perform sobriety tests on the scene. Those can be challenging physically and also mentally but usually include simple requests like counting.
Former NFL running back Cedric Benson found himself on the receiving end of such a test recently and blamed the NFL when he could not properly perform his ABCs.
The former running back who played for the Bears, Bengals and Packers over eight NFL seasons, and was taken with the fourth overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, was pulled over and arrested in Austin, Texas for a DUI charge, the Austin American Statesman reports.
And when he was pulled over, things got a little awkward.
According to a police affidavit obtained by the paper, Benson declined to stay in his vehicle after pulling over into a 7-Eleven parking lot, instead appearing to inform the officer he wanted to enter the convenience store.
The Statesman reports police described Benson’s as as “glassy.” He was also “swaying” and “his speech was mumbled and he smelled of alcohol.”
Benson is described in the affidavit as “talkative, uncooperative [and] cocky.”
Additionally, police wrote in the affidavit that Benson “refused sobriety tests.” Benson was asked to recite the alphabet and “stated he couldn’t do that because he played 8 years in the NFL.”
Benson told police he couldn’t count any higher than the number three.
This is not Benson’s first arrest and it’s not even his first arrest in Travis County, Texas. Benson was arrested in 2011 for assault on a family member, while having other legal issues in Austin pending. In 2014, Benson was arrested in Austin for public intoxication.
Benson was released by the Bears in 2008 after being busted for drunk driving and drunk boating (yes, both of them). He latched on with the Bengals but struggled to find a home as a free agent in 2012.
At the time, Benson said he had “no idea” why he couldn’t find work with an NFL team. Benson would latch on with the Packers for five games later that season. Someone in your fantasy team inevitably picked him up for a couple of weeks.
Benson’s bail was set at $5,000 and police told the Statesman he is no longer in custody.
