Chicago waives Benson

He was released after his second alcohol-related arrest in a month.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Bears thought Cedric Benson would be their next great running back. He’ll instead go down as one of their biggest disappointments.

The Bears waived Benson Monday after his second alcohol-related arrest in a month, ending a rocky three-season tenure in which he failed to live up to expectations after starring at Texas.

“Cedric displayed a pattern of behavior we will not tolerate,” general manager Jerry Angelo, the Youngstown native, said in a statement. “As I said this past weekend, you have to protect your job. Everyone in this organization is held accountable for their actions.”

The troubled running back, who didn’t participate in organized team activities Monday after telling the Chicago Tribune he would, issued an apology through sports attorney David Cornwell while maintaining his innocence.

“I apologize for making the poor decision to drink and drive during the early morning of Saturday, June 7th,” Benson said in a statement. “Given the incident last month, it was a particularly bad decision. I have no excuse for this lack of judgment. Though I strongly believe that I am not guilty of any crime, I realize that the public and the Bears organization hold me to higher standard. Though my local attorneys will continue to work hard to prove my innocence, I confess to using poor judgment. Please accept my deepest apology.”

The Bears had already made it clear they were losing patience with Benson when they drafted Tulane’s Matt Forte in the second round in April. Three ineffective, injury-plagued years during which Benson at times annoyed teammates with blunt comments left management looking for another running back. And that was before the recent brushes with the law.

“When individual priorities overshadow team goals, we suffer the consequences as a team,” Angelo said. “Those who fail to understand the importance of ’team’ will not play for the Chicago Bears.”