Andrew Russell Bennett (born August 26, 1978) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

and was signed by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in 2001. Bennett was also a member of the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

. He retired prior to the 2009 season due to a knee injury.

Early years

Bennett attended

Miramonte High School Miramonte High School is a four-year public high school located in Orinda, California, United States. It is part of the Acalanes Union High School District. The school has a college-preparatory program, with 23 Advanced Placement courses offered ...

Orinda, California Orinda is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census is estimated at 19,514 residents. History Orinda is located within four Mexican land grants: Rancho La ...

, and was a three-sport standout in football, baseball, and basketball. As a senior football quarterback, he won first-team All-League and second-team All-Bay Area honors, after he passed for 2,308 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for six touchdowns. In baseball, he batted .430 and won first-team All-League honors.

College career

Bennett was offered a scholarship to play at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, but turned it down to attend the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA). He was a walk-on as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and elected to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

the 1996 season. He was awarded a scholarship for the 1997 season and switched positions to become a wide receiver for his junior year. He played both wide receiver and

in his senior season and won the Paul I. Wellman Award for All-Around Excellence. He graduated from UCLA with a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, and is also a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

Professional career

Tennessee Titans

From 2001 to 2006, Bennett played wide receiver for the

, becoming a full-time starter. During the 2004 season he tied an NFL record by scoring eight

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s in a three-game span.

St. Louis Rams

In 2007, Bennett became a free agent and signed with the

. He signed a six-year deal worth $30 million, with $10 million guaranteed. He played his two guaranteed seasons with the Rams before being released on February 25, 2009.

Baltimore Ravens

Bennett signed with the

on July 24, 2009, to a one-year, $745,000 contract. He retired on July 26, 2009, due to a flare-up of a previous knee condition.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Post-NFL career and personal life

Bennett has appeared on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's '' First Take'' (hosted by

Jay Crawford Jason "Jay" Crawford (born July 4, 1965) is an American TV news and sports anchor, who is best known nationally for his time at ESPN. Crawford anchored the live 11 p.m. edition of ''SportsCenter'' with Chris McKendry until April 2017. Prior to ...

) as recently as March 24, 2010, as an NFL analyst alongside Bobby Carpenter. Bennett now resides in

San Ramon, California San Ramon (Spanish language, Spanish: ''San Ramón'', meaning "Saint Raymond") is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located within the San Ramon Valley, and east of San Francisco. San Ramon's population was 84,605 per th ...

References

External links

Player Bio: Drew Bennett – UCLA Official Athletic Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Drew 1978 births Living people Players of American football from Berkeley, California American football wide receivers UCLA Bruins football players American football quarterbacks Tennessee Titans players St. Louis Rams players Baltimore Ravens players Sportspeople from Orinda, California Players of American football from Contra Costa County, California Miramonte High School alumni