Cedric Benson Makes NFL Look Foolish

Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson was suspended for three games nearly one month ago for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.

Benson appealed the suspension, and it turned into a saga that finally ended on Tuesday with the punishment being reduced to one game and a fine.

It was an extremely messy situation that saw the ruling delayed several weeks, and in the end the league looked foolish.

Suspending a player that was a free agent during the lockout was shaky ground to begin with, and reducing the suspension to one game was basically admitting defeat. It is definitely a big blow to commissioner Roger Goodell's initiative to clean up the league's image.

It all stems from an assault charge in which the workhorse pleaded no contest and ended up serving less than four days in jail, according to Rotoworld. While his repeat offender status was the reason for the initial decision, it appears the commissioner's office figured Benson's argument was strong enough to back down.

Between the personal conduct policy, fines for certain types of illegal hits and the lockout, Goodell shouldn't be planning on too many Christmas cards from players this holiday season. Cleaning up the game is fine, but he's closing in on what could be considered overdoing it.

As for Benson, he'll likely miss the team's Week 8 game against the Seattle Seahawks because Cincinnati has a bye this weekend.

While the Bengals wouldn't like to be without their lead back for any games, it shouldn't be a death blow against a middling Seattle team.

They have a solid run defense, so Andy Dalton would have likely needed to be the focal point of the offense that week anyway.

Starting in Week 9, Cincinnati has a three-game stretch against Tennessee, Pittsburgh and Baltimore which will go a long way in deciding its playoff fate. Having Benson available for all of those games will be a nice boost to the offense.

Now that the situation is settled, Benson can move on without the suspension cloud following him around. Hopefully he understands another offense won't be as easy to get out of, though.

Bengals fans are probably just happy they don't have to hear about it any more.