Stetson Bennett addresses tumultuous offseason at combine

INDIANAPOLIS — Former Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett IV addressed his somewhat tumultuous offseason, which included a January arrest in Dallas for public intoxication, on Friday at the NFL's scouting combine.

Bennett, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist this past season, also did not participate in any of the postseason All-Star games and was criticized for his actions during the victory parade after leading the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships.

Bennett was arrested Jan. 15 in Dallas when police responded to calls about a man pounding on doors in the early-morning hours.

«It was, you know, a mistake that everybody's aware of,'' Bennett said. „I understand why that can't happen, I've talked to coaches about it, talked to GMs, apologized to my family. That's who I feel the worst about, felt like I let them down because no matter where I go now and even without all this, I've got an obligation, I'm the fourth, can't do that if your last name is Bennett.''

A former walk-on, Bennett rose to full-time starter on two national championship teams — he was the MVP in both title games — including passing for 304 yards and six total touchdowns (four passing, two rushing) in the Bulldogs' rout of TCU in January.

It has been a rocky post-championship run for Bennett in addition to his arrest. He took significant public criticism for being on his cell phone during the team's victory parade, including while a reporter for an Atlanta television station attempted to interview him during the parade. And from the podium during the celebration after the parade Bennett said, “Y'all kept telling us how bad we were, and y'all couldn't understand it, and we kept winning and we kept embarrassing people, screw it, we got two