Bengals running back Cedric Benson enjoys the support of coach Marvin Lewis in the wake of Benson’s recent arrest for assault. Whether he has the support of Commissioner Roger Goodell remains to be seen.
Per a league source, Benson will meet with Goodell on Thursday.
The timing is curious, given that Benson’s pending criminal case has not yet been resolved. Then again, it’s possible that the league office regards Benson as a repeat offender under the Personal Conduct Policy, even though two prior arrests (drunk driving, drunk boating) resulted in no conviction or guilty plea.
Then there’s the fact that Benson didn’t bother to tell the team or the league about the recent charges before officially being arrested. Though he claims that he emerged from the incident at an Austin, Texas club believing he was the victim, Benson learned a couple of weeks later in no uncertain terms that a club employee contends that Benson committed assault. Under the language of the Personal Conduct Policy, which require a prompt report after any incident that “may be” a violation, Benson did himself no favors by not calling the Bengals immediately after being contacted by a detective regarding the allegations.
