Linebackers are typically the impact players, and sometimes leaders, of the defense. These skills can take time to develop, especially at the National Football League level.
Second-year Browns linebacker 
“It feels great. It feels even better to help my team win,” Benard said. “I’ve worked hard and that’s what I do; I try to take advantage of any opportunities that are given to me. I’m happy to make any plays I can here with the team.”
Despite the fact that the Browns defense was put on some short fields and gave up an early touchdown pass from Todd Collins to tight end Greg Olsen, the players banded together and held the Bears to one field goal the rest of the game.
“We just kept our heads on our shoulders. As a team, we deal with adversity really well,” Benard said. “If it’s play-by-play, series-by-series, half-by-half or game-by-game, we’ve dealt with adversity.”
A year ago, Benard was a free agent rookie trying to make an impression on the coaching staff to secure a roster spot heading into the regular season. On the final roster cut-down day, Benard was let go, but after clearing waivers, he was added to the practice squad.
Later in the 2009 season, Benard was promoted to the active roster and made an immediate impact. Despite playing in only a handful of games, he led all Browns rookies with 3.5 sacks. He had two of Ben Roethlisberger in the Browns’ 13-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in front of a national television audience on the NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football December broadcast.
Benard had such an impact on the coaches that they selected him to speak to this year’s rookies.
“I really was talking to the free agents and guys who were under-the-radar because that’s the only perspective I can give them,” he said. “I can’t talk to them from a first-round perspective; I can’t talk to them from a drafted perspective, but I can talk to them from a free agent perspective, coming from the bottom and what they have to do.
“I told them just to work hard and it’s going to be frustrating,” Benard continued. “You’re not going to get the same amount of reps, but one thing that will not change and can change the minds of the coaches and anybody is work ethic. You’ve got to keep working hard and just don’t stop. You don’t want to regret anything. You don’t want to leave here and say, ‘You know what, I could’ve done this; I could’ve done that, but you can live with giving your all and it not working out.’”
The same message Benard gave to the rookies is the one he continues to follow to this day.
“Not to knock anybody else, but I am a free agent,” he said. “I am a guy from a small school, so opportunity is something that I can’t not take advantage of at any situation at any time.”
