Frederick Bennett (born December 31, 1983) is a former

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. He was drafted by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. 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 ...

at the University of South Carolina. Bennett has been a member of the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

and

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

Early years

Bennett played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Manning High School Manning High School is one of two high schools in Manning, South Carolina, United States. It is part of the Clarendon County's Clarendon County School District Clarendon County School District is located in Clarendon County, South Carolina. See ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and ran

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. He was also selected to participate in the 2001

Shrine Bowl The Shrine Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game. The first game was played on December 18, 1948, at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas, between Hardin–Simmons University and Ouachita Baptist College.Foldesy, Jody. "Bowl ...

College career

Bennett played college football at the University of South Carolina. He finished his career with 108

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...

, nine

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

, and was a two-time All-American selection.

Professional career

Houston Texans

Bennett was drafted by the

in the 4th-round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He replaced the injured

Dunta Robinson Willie Dunta Robinson ( ; born April 11, 1982) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at South Carolina and was drafted by the Houston Texans with the 10th overall selection in the 2004 NFL Draft. Robinson also play ...

in his rookie season, recording 62 tackles and intercepting three passes.

San Diego Chargers

After being waived in August 2010, he was claimed by the Chargers and spent the first four games of the 2010 season as a backup and special teams player.

Cincinnati Bengals

After being cut by San Diego, Bennett was claimed on November 23, 2010 by the

to replace injured cornerback

Johnathan Joseph Johnathan Lee Joseph (born April 16, 1984) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at South Carolina Gamecocks football, South Carolina and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 2006 NFL Dr ...

. Bennett was released on August 27, 2011.

Arizona Cardinals

On August 29, 2011, Bennett signed with the

. He was waived on September 2.

Calgary Stampeders

On May 22, 2012, Bennett signed with the

. In his first three seasons in the CFL, Bennett totaled 129 tackles, five special teams tackles, nine interceptions and one fumble recovery. Bennett was named a 2014 West Division All-Star and won a

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

later that season. On February 3, 2015, Bennett and the Stamps agreed to a contract extension.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On August 16, 2016, Bennett was traded, along with Jeff Hecht, to the

for two negotiation-list players. He was released by the Roughriders on February 1, 2017.

Healthcare fraud case

Bennett was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of health care fraud by the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

on December 12, 2019. He initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but changed his plea to guilty by December 2020. By February 2022, he had been sentenced to 180 days of

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

and ordered to perform 240 hours of community service.

References

External links

Saskatchewan Roughriders bioCalgary Stampeders bio

Houston Texans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Fred 1983 births Living people Players of American football from South Carolina South Carolina Gamecocks football players American football cornerbacks Canadian football defensive backs Players of Canadian football from South Carolina Houston Texans players San Diego Chargers players Cincinnati Bengals players Arizona Cardinals players Calgary Stampeders players Saskatchewan Roughriders players People from Manning, South Carolina