Earl Bennett may have only spent five seasons in Chicago, but he experienced a lot in that time span. One thing he always remembers was having to go against that great Bears defense everyday in practice. People of course remember Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. However, the one who probably gave off the most menacing presence was Julius Peppers.
Chicago signed the All-Pro defensive end in 2010. While not a mean guy, his quiet personality and terrorizing talent struck fear even into his teammates. So one can imagine how Bennett felt when he was directed by Bears coaches to deliver a block to Peppers during a play in practice. Keep in mind Bennett was 6’0, 209 lbs. They were asking him to block a guy who was 6’7, 295 lbs. All of it muscle, by the way.
It was basically like asking picket fence to slow down a tidal wave. Bennett knew the only way he could successfully pull it off was with a chop block. The problem is those blocks are dangerous and can often lead to knee injuries. If the receiver had done something like that to Peppers, he’d get cut. So he was forced to ask the defensive end not to rush hard on the play.
This way an injury could be prevented. They would signal each other with a thumbs up. Peppers initially agreed.
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Bennett quickly learned that Julius Peppers is a competitive person
It was a fine plan. There was just one problem. Bennett didn’t account for what might happen if Peppers wasn’t in a generous mood at the time. Men like him don’t play by normal rules. Sure enough, things got out of control when the offense got off to a good start in practice. Peppers being the proud and competitive person he is, was forced to sacrifice Bennett on the altar.
“Fast forward to the scrimmage. The offense is doing well, and the coaches are yapping at the defense. Coaches insert me in the game and before I get in the huddle coach reminded me to give DE #1 the thumbs up. So, I did. He ignored it. I enter the huddle and get the play. I peek out of the huddle and make eye contact, and I think it was hard to see his eyes with that tinted shield, with him and give him a thumbs up. He gives thumbs up back. Perfect! I was relieved. Just for assurance, when I broke the huddle so that the film crew could record it, I gave him another thumb. He shook his head as in no… After that, I knew this play was going to be a disaster.
QB #1 calls for me to come in motion, so I do. I give another thumbs up, and obviously, he ignored it. QB#1 goes through his cadence and says hike. I have never been pushed back so far in my life. I felt as if I had been pushed back to my youth. Seriously, I felt like a little kid trying to stop their big brother during a basketball game. The worst part was that he pushed me into the quarterback. All I hear is “what the f*%k is Earl doing.” Now, I have to explain why QB #1 almost hit his hand on my helmet. We ended up getting an understanding, which was good.”
Keep in mind Peppers did stuff like that to 320-lbs offensive tackles his entire career. One can imagine he looked down on Bennett as nothing more than a gnat to swat away. If anything, it’s the coaches who deserve criticism here. How they ever thought throwing a wide receiver at one of the best defensive ends in history was a good idea is mind-boggling.
