Allen Beverly Bennett II (born May 5, 1962) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

, Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears. He also was a member of the

Jacksonville Bulls The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League (USFL) during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985. They played their home games in the Gator ...

, Chicago Bruisers, Dallas Texans,

Sacramento Surge The Sacramento Surge was a professional American football team that played in the World League of American Football (WLAF) in 1991 and 1992. The team played its first season at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, and the second season in Hornet Stad ...

San Antonio Riders The San Antonio Riders were a professional American football team that played in the WLAF in 1991 and 1992. The team played at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio in 1991 and then were forced to move to Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Southwest Texas S ...

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

and

Portland Forest Dragons Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. He was a football coach in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL),

AF2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

, and

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States. Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...

(NAL). He played college football at Duke University.

Early years

Bennett attended Peterson High School in Sunnyvale, California, where he was the starter at

. He was the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

and a highly recruited player as a senior. In his high school career he set 18 school records and 9

Santa Clara Valley Athletic League Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) is a high school athletic conference and part of the CIF Central Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation. Its 14+ member schools are in the northern part of the Santa Clara Valley. Each ...

records.

College career

Freshman season

Bennett accepted a football scholarship from Duke University under then-head coach Shirley "Red" Wilson and offensive coordinator Steve Spurrier. He was voted ACC "Rookie of the Year" and twice named the ACC "Offensive Player of the Week". His best individual game was against

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

, setting three NCAA freshman records by completing 38 of 62 passes for 469 yards. He finished the season with 174 of 330 completions for 2,050 yards, 11 touchdowns and a school record 25 interceptions.

Sophomore season

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, he injured his shoulder during the season opener, missing the next three games and he also had to overcome a challenge for the starting job from backup Ron Sally. He punted against the University of South Carolina twice for an average of 41 yards. He came back against

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

and completed 9 of 16 passes for 113 yards with one touchdown. He had his best games against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

(31 of 46 for 397 yards and 2 touchdowns) and

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

(17 of 25 for 243 yards and one touchdown). In nine games, he completed 110 of 202 passes for 1,445 yards, with 7 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.

Junior season

In 1982, he became the first player in the ACC in its 30 years history to pass for over 3,000 yards with 3,033, receiving ACC

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

and All-ACC honors. He set numerous records, including ACC career marks for most passing yards (6,528), most passes attempted (906), most passes completed (520), and most touchdown passes (38). He was named ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

s Offensive Player of the Week following the season finale against

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

while passing for 273 yards, completing 25 of 34 passes, with one touchdown and no interceptions. In the 4th quarter against

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

, he completed an NCAA record 21 passes with three touchdowns. He threw at least one touchdown pass in every game. Bennett had a completion percentage of 63.1 and a passing efficiency rating of 142.5. In 11 games, he completed 236 of 374 attempts for 3,033 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Senior season

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, he completed 300 of 469 pass attempts for 3,086 yards with 17 touchdowns and one interception, averaging 280.54 yards per game. Bennett completed his collegiate career as the top passer in the history of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

football, with the most passes attempted (1,375), most passes completed (820), and most yardage (9,614), surpassing marks set by John Elway and Jim McMahon. He left with 7

, 15 ACC and 42 school records. In 2011, he was inducted into the Duke University Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2011, he was a member of the ACC Legends Class.

Professional career

Bennett was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the 6th round (148th overall) of the 1984 NFL Draft. On May 5, he instead chose to sign with the

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

, who selected him in the 1984 territorial draft. He was a backup behind Robbie Mahfouz and Matt Robinson. He appeared in 2 games, completing 7 of 13 passes for 113 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. On February 7,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, he was released after the signing of

Brian Sipe Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

. On February 26,

, he was signed by the Falcons to participate in their

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

. He was waived on August 4. In

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

. He was cut on August 25. After the

NFLPA The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeM ...

strike was declared on the third week of the 1987 season, those contests were canceled (reducing the 16 game season to 15) and the NFL decided that the games would be played with replacement players. He was signed to be a part of the Dallas replacement team that was given the mock name "Rhinestone Cowboys" by the media on October 1. He was a backup

and didn't appear in any game. He was cut on October 7. On October 9, he was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Bengals. He played in one game, completing 2 of 6 passes for 25 yards with one interception. He wasn't re-signed after the season. In

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, he was signed by the Chicago Bruisers of the

after performing well at a tryout camp. Under head coach

Perry Moss Perry Lee Moss (August 4, 1926 – August 7, 2014) was an American football player, coach, and executive. Moss played tailback at the University of Tulsa and quarterback at Illinois during the 1940s. As a Tulsa tailback, he was on the Orange Bo ...

, he finished the season completing 172 of 323 passes for 2,304 yards with 49 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He was named First-team All-Arena team at QB and was also named the league's Most Valuable Player. On November 29,

, he was signed as a

by the Chicago Bears to backup Jim Harbaugh, after Jim McMahon was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

and

Mike Tomczak Michael John Tomczak (born October 23, 1962) is a former American football player. Tomczak played quarterback for several NFL teams from 1985 through 1999, including the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers, the Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsb ...

was out with a separated shoulder. He was active for two games as a backup

. He wasn't re-signed after the season. In

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

, the Bruisers suspended operations. During the shortened season, he was the league's top-ranked passer, posting 69 of 127 completions for 808 yards with 14 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, Bennett began the year with the Albany Firebirds. On May 14, he was traded to the Dallas Texans. He appeared in all 8 games where he led the team to the ArenaBowl IV. During the season, he completed 115 of 220 attempts for 1,149 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. He was named second-team All-Arena. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, he was selected by the

in the first round of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally ...

draft. He was a backup behind Mike Elkins and was released on April 9. In April, he was signed by the

, where he was a backup behind Mike Johnson and

Jason Garrett Jason Calvin Garrett (born March 28, 1966) is a former American football player and coach and current broadcaster. He previously served as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for the 2010s from 2010-2019. Garrett has also been offensive coordi ...

. On June 5,

, he was signed by the Dallas Texans of the

. On July 3, he was traded to the expansion

in exchange for defensive tackle Keith Williams, reuniting with head coach

. He replaced starter Reggie Collier, finishing the season with 42 of 81 passes for 540 yards with 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. In 1992, he completed 145 of 264 passes for 2,092 yards with 41 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The greatest feat of his career the "Miracle Minute", a historic comeback in a game against the Detroit Drive on June 19. In that game, he threw two touchdown passes and two 2-point conversions in the final 49 seconds of the game, all to

Barry Wagner Barry Wagner (born November 24, 1967) is a retired American football player in the Arena Football League for the Orlando Predators, with whom he won his first ArenaBowl Championship, and the San Jose SaberCats, with whom he won two championships ...

. Wagner then got a game-winning safety, completing a comeback from a 32-42 deficit to a 50-49 win. Bennett led the Predators to the

ArenaBowl VI ArenaBowl '92 (or ArenaBowl VI) was the Arena Football League's sixth Arena Bowl. The game featured the #2 Detroit Drive (8–2) against the #1 Orlando Predators (9–1). Earlier in the regular season, these two teams met with the Predators winning ...

, where they were beaten by the Drive. In

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, he completed 180 of 340 yards for 2,515 yards with 50 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, he completed 166 of 245 passes for 2,211 yards with 45 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, he completed 91 of 149 passes for 1,111 yards with 20 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. For both the

and

season, Bennett was named first-team All-Arena. He would also lead the Predators to a total of three ArenaBowls, losing all three. For the 1996 season, Bennett played for the

, completing 26 of 55 passes for 376 yards with 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, he played for the

, completing 63 of 124 passes for 792 yards with 14 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He retired at the end of the year after suffering a neck injury. During his AFL playing career, he made five ArenaBowl appearances and was inducted into the

Arena Football Hall of Fame The Arena Football Hall of Fame is the official Hall of Fame of the Arena Football League (AFL). The inaugural class was announced in 1998 and the Hall was not formally organized until 2011. Prior to 2011, there were four classes: 1998–200 ...

on May 24, 2000. He also was inducted into the Predators Ring of Honor.

Coaching career

In 1998, he was signed as an assistant coach by the Milwaukee Mustangs. In December 1998, he was named an assistant coach at Duke University. In three seasons as a head coach in the af2, Bennett has compiled a record of 36-18 (including playoffs). His win total is the third highest among active coaches and tenth best All-time. Bennett's coaching resume also includes stints as an assistant with the Florida Bobcats (AFL, 2001), the

Greensboro Prowlers The Greensboro Prowlers were a professional arena football team based in Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of ...

(af2, 2000), and the Milwaukee Mustangs (AFL, 1998). Bennett built and led the

Florida Firecats The Florida Firecats were a professional arena football team based in Estero, Florida. They played in the AF2, the Arena Football League's developmental league, from 2001 to 2009. They did not join the AFL following the leagues' reorganization i ...

of the af2 to two

ArenaCup The ArenaCup was the af2's championship game. For the league's first five years, it was held at the arena of the higher seeded team. However, the 2005 ArenaCup was the first to be played at a neutral site in Bossier City, Louisiana. The 2006 Ar ...

championship games during the 2002 and 2004 seasons, winning the 2004 ArenaCup championship. In 2005, he transformed the

Manchester Wolves The Manchester Wolves were a professional arena football team, based at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, which folded at the end of the 2009 season along with the rest of the league. They played in the East Division of the ...

from a 5-11 team in 2004 into the East Division champion in his first season. He guided the Wolves to a franchise-best 12-win season, finishing 12-5 overall. The team's season also included a 10-game win streak and a trip to the second round of the af2 playoffs. Bennett was to be the head coach for the

Orlando Fantasy The Orlando Fantasy were a women's American football in the Lingerie Football League that began playing in the 2010–11 season and based in Orlando, Florida. Initially, former Orlando Predators' quarterback Ben Bennett was named head coach, b ...

during the 2010 season, but he decided that it wasn't a job he was interested in. In 2011, he was the offensive coordinator of the

's New Orleans VooDoo, but he was dismissed three games into the season. In 2012, he was named offensive coordinator of the

. He was named the head coach of the re-launched

in the

for the 2020 season. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, but Bennett returned for the 2021 season where he led the team to 4–4 record and a playoff spot. He left the Predators after the season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Ben 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from Sunnyvale, California Players of American football from California American football quarterbacks Duke Blue Devils football players Jacksonville Bulls players Dallas Cowboys players Cincinnati Bengals players Chicago Bruisers players Chicago Bears players Dallas Texans (Arena) players Sacramento Surge players San Antonio Riders players Orlando Predators players San Jose SaberCats players Portland Forest Dragons players Milwaukee Mustangs (1994–2001) coaches Duke Blue Devils football coaches Florida Bobcats coaches Florida Firecats coaches Manchester Wolves coaches Austin Wranglers coaches New Orleans VooDoo coaches Orlando Predators coaches Af2 coaches National Football League replacement players