Dwight "Bill" Bentley (born May 16, 1989) is a former American football cornerback. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Louisiana-Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

and was drafted in the third round of the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

High school career

Bentley attended Pahokee High School in Pahokee, Florida, where he was teammates with Pernell McPhee and Janoris Jenkins. During his senior year, he led all defensive backs with 25 tackles, and also had 6 interceptions. Bentley was named to All-Area First-team and All-State Second-team. He helped Pahokee win three Florida Class 2A state championships. He did not receive any college football offers his senior year.

College career

In 2007, he played a season at Dodge City Community College. He did not play that season, garnering himself a redshirt. Considered only a two-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', his only scholarship offer came from

, which he accepted. In 2008, as a redshirt freshman, he played in 12 games, starting first 10 at cornerback. In 2009, he played in 12 games, starting in 11 of them. He led all defensive backs on his team with 58 tackles and had three interceptions. He was named All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention for his performance that year. As a junior in 2010, he started in 11 games, missing one game due to an ankle injury. He recorded 58 tackles, including 3 for loss and one interception. In his senior season in 2011, he recorded 71 tackles, a new career high, including five for loss, and also had three interceptions. He was named to the second-team All-Sun Belt.

Professional career

Bentley was ranked among the top ten cornerback prospects of the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. He was drafted by the

with the 85th overall pick., the ninth cornerback selected. On May 11, 2012, Bentley agreed to terms on a four-year contract with the Lions. On June 18, 2015, the Lions waived Bentley due to injury concerns. On November 18, 2015, the Lions signed Bentley after numerous injuries to cornerbacks. On December 29, 2015, Bentley was waived.

References

External links

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Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Bill 1989 births Living people American football cornerbacks Detroit Lions players Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football players People from Pahokee, Florida Players of American football from Florida Sportspeople from the Miami metropolitan area Pahokee High School alumni