Ryan Benjamin re-wrote the Pacific and Big West Conference record books and gained national acclaim as a running back and return specialist for the Pacific football team from 1990-92. He was a two-time All-American and Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Year for the Tigers in 1991 and 1992.
As a junior in 1991, Benjamin led the country in all-purpose yardage and became the first player in conference history to catch 50 passes while rushing for at least 1,500 yards. His 2,996 all-purpose yards were second only to Barry Sanders' NCAA record numbers in 1988. Following the season, Benjamin became Pacific's first and only Associated Press First Team All-American and just the second player in Big West Conference history to earn the honor.
Benjamin followed his decorated junior campaign with an equally impressive senior season in 1992. He earned AP and UPI All-America Second Team recognition after rushing for 1,441 yards and compiling 2,597 all-purpose yards. Ryan continues to lead the NCAA in career yards per game with an average of 237.8 yards per contest over his career. That average is more than 30 yards better than the next best average. In addition, Benjamin is still the only player in NCAA Division I history to surpass 2,500 all-purpose yards in two different seasons.
In the Pacific record book, Benjamin holds the single season rushing record with 1,581 yards in 1991, and ranks second with 3,119 career rushing yards. He holds Pacific and Big West Conference records for all-purpose yardage in a single season and in a career, as well as school and conference records for the most games with at least 300 all-purpose yards in a season and a career.
Benjamin went on to sign as a free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League, where he played for one and a half years from 1993-94. He then competed for the Shreveport Pirates of the Canadian Football League in 1994, and the Portland Forest Dragons of the Arena Football League from 1995-2000, were he served as the team's captain and earned team MVP honors. Benjamin currently resides in Cordova, Tenn., with his wife, Shannon, and their three children. He works as a national accounts manager for American Home Shield, where he manages accounting and collection representatives.
