Husky Legend: Kyle Benn
November 02, 2018 | Football
By Nick Reeves
A year-three starter on the offensive line, starting 36 games from 1999-2001, Kyle Benn brought toughness, a nasty edge and leadership to the Washington offensive unit.
Benn stayed home in the Pacific Northwest to play for the Huskies after attending O'Dea High School for his prep career. The decision to stay home and play for Washington was an easy decision as Benn grew up in the shadow of Montlake.
"I had grown up a Husky fan," said Benn. "I had been going to games whenever I could get a ticket with family members or friends throughout the years. When I got to high school and started getting recruited I was considering a couple of other schools as well. When Washington offered me a scholarship we sat down and went 'haven't you always really wanted to go here?' Then why make this complicated? I committed to Coach Lambright right then and there and ended the whole process and made it easy. It was kind of where I always wanted to go."
Benn had to earn his playing time on the field and once he did, he never looked back starting for three years over his career as well being named to 2001 Pac-10 First Team.
"When I got to Washington, I was told I'd be the sixth man on the o-line, I'd play everywhere, I'd be the backup, wherever they needed me," said Benn. "I thought you know what, I'm at Washington, I'm a Husky I don't care. If you want me to carry towels, I'll do it. Then to start three years wasn't necessarily a surprise, but it's not what I thought was in the cards for me."
Benn knew he needed to gain an edge to not only standout in his position group but also to be able to win battles on the line of scrimmage against his opponents on the other side of the ball.
"As a player, I always looked around at our team and other teams and there were some amazing athletes. I figured to compete and to beat them I had to be smarter than as many of them as I could. Know what they were going to do, know their tendencies, know as much as I could so I could anticipate it and beat them.
"The other side of it was being mean, within the rules," Benn went on. "I think the group we had those few years, we did a good job of playing mean and nasty in the white lines and within the whistles. We were going to go harder than you, we were going to know more about the game than you and that ended up paying off."
During his time as a Husky, Benn not only earned accolades on the field but also in the classroom. Benn was twice named to the Pac-10 All-Academic team and in his senior year of 2001 earned the honor of being an Academic All-American. He credits the work ethic that it took to be successful in the classroom helping him as a player studying the game of football.
"I think that was football rubbing off on academics and academics rubbing off on football," said Benn. "If I tried really hard in the film room with the playbook to figure out everything that was going on, it was second nature to do that up on campus. The intellectual side was that was ingrained ended up paying dividends on both sides of the fence."
In Benn's junior season, everything clicked with the Huskies going 11-1, winning the Pac-10 and beating Purdue in the 2001 Rose Bowl 34-24. The Huskies would finish the year ranked third in the country.
"When I got here, we were loaded, we had a ton of draft picks, we were ranked high, played in a bunch of big games. After that season we switched coaches from Lambright to Neuheisel, there was a huge rollover in the program. It took a couple years for everyone to get their bearings again to figure out what our identity was. In that time, we kept going to bowl games, we kept fighting, we kept winning games albeit close.
"The progression that led up to the Rose Bowl game and the Pac-10 championship, was the class of '96, '97, '98, '99 all those guys. Even though we had new coaches, a new program and a new system, those guys stuck together and we kept working on what mattered. The people on the team progressed together and you throw in a couple of intangibles of great coaching, great new additions, and excited fan base and it all came together in that 2000 season."
In his senior year, Benn was named team captain, the Huskies would finish the year at 8-4 and second in the Pac-10 conference. Benn would go on to sign as a free agent with the Tennessee Titians after the 2001 season.
Nowadays, Benn still follows the Huskies as a fan and is happy to see the success in which head coach Chris Petersen has had in the last few years.
"I try to go to as many games as possible, still have season tickets, I've had them since I've been done playing," said Benn. "I try to keep in contact with the program, going to the Big 'W' Club events, tailgating with a bunch of old teammates on as many Saturdays as I can with family and everything else. It never went away and it's great to see what Coach Pete, the staff and the players have done the last three to four years."
When the call came to Benn that he would be honored as a Husky Legend he was caught off guard. As an offensive lineman, Benn's idea of success was achieved through his team's success.
"To be chosen, I was surprised. I was blown away in a good way. Just being on the team, then being on the field, winning games was all that really mattered. When I looked at the Husky Legends and this thing started and all of these names of guys I've grown up watching and guys I played with, guys in the NFL, All-Pros and fan favorites. To see those people, you've looked up to through the years and then you're on the field in the same position as them is a huge honor. A little disbelief but really happy."
On Saturday, Kyle Benn will get his much deserved recognition of setting a standard of excellence for his hometown Huskies.
A year-three starter on the offensive line, starting 36 games from 1999-2001, Kyle Benn brought toughness, a nasty edge and leadership to the Washington offensive unit.
Benn stayed home in the Pacific Northwest to play for the Huskies after attending O'Dea High School for his prep career. The decision to stay home and play for Washington was an easy decision as Benn grew up in the shadow of Montlake.
"I had grown up a Husky fan," said Benn. "I had been going to games whenever I could get a ticket with family members or friends throughout the years. When I got to high school and started getting recruited I was considering a couple of other schools as well. When Washington offered me a scholarship we sat down and went 'haven't you always really wanted to go here?' Then why make this complicated? I committed to Coach Lambright right then and there and ended the whole process and made it easy. It was kind of where I always wanted to go."
Benn had to earn his playing time on the field and once he did, he never looked back starting for three years over his career as well being named to 2001 Pac-10 First Team.
"When I got to Washington, I was told I'd be the sixth man on the o-line, I'd play everywhere, I'd be the backup, wherever they needed me," said Benn. "I thought you know what, I'm at Washington, I'm a Husky I don't care. If you want me to carry towels, I'll do it. Then to start three years wasn't necessarily a surprise, but it's not what I thought was in the cards for me."
Benn knew he needed to gain an edge to not only standout in his position group but also to be able to win battles on the line of scrimmage against his opponents on the other side of the ball.
"As a player, I always looked around at our team and other teams and there were some amazing athletes. I figured to compete and to beat them I had to be smarter than as many of them as I could. Know what they were going to do, know their tendencies, know as much as I could so I could anticipate it and beat them.
"The other side of it was being mean, within the rules," Benn went on. "I think the group we had those few years, we did a good job of playing mean and nasty in the white lines and within the whistles. We were going to go harder than you, we were going to know more about the game than you and that ended up paying off."
During his time as a Husky, Benn not only earned accolades on the field but also in the classroom. Benn was twice named to the Pac-10 All-Academic team and in his senior year of 2001 earned the honor of being an Academic All-American. He credits the work ethic that it took to be successful in the classroom helping him as a player studying the game of football.
"I think that was football rubbing off on academics and academics rubbing off on football," said Benn. "If I tried really hard in the film room with the playbook to figure out everything that was going on, it was second nature to do that up on campus. The intellectual side was that was ingrained ended up paying dividends on both sides of the fence."
In Benn's junior season, everything clicked with the Huskies going 11-1, winning the Pac-10 and beating Purdue in the 2001 Rose Bowl 34-24. The Huskies would finish the year ranked third in the country.
"When I got here, we were loaded, we had a ton of draft picks, we were ranked high, played in a bunch of big games. After that season we switched coaches from Lambright to Neuheisel, there was a huge rollover in the program. It took a couple years for everyone to get their bearings again to figure out what our identity was. In that time, we kept going to bowl games, we kept fighting, we kept winning games albeit close.
"The progression that led up to the Rose Bowl game and the Pac-10 championship, was the class of '96, '97, '98, '99 all those guys. Even though we had new coaches, a new program and a new system, those guys stuck together and we kept working on what mattered. The people on the team progressed together and you throw in a couple of intangibles of great coaching, great new additions, and excited fan base and it all came together in that 2000 season."
In his senior year, Benn was named team captain, the Huskies would finish the year at 8-4 and second in the Pac-10 conference. Benn would go on to sign as a free agent with the Tennessee Titians after the 2001 season.
Nowadays, Benn still follows the Huskies as a fan and is happy to see the success in which head coach Chris Petersen has had in the last few years.
"I try to go to as many games as possible, still have season tickets, I've had them since I've been done playing," said Benn. "I try to keep in contact with the program, going to the Big 'W' Club events, tailgating with a bunch of old teammates on as many Saturdays as I can with family and everything else. It never went away and it's great to see what Coach Pete, the staff and the players have done the last three to four years."
When the call came to Benn that he would be honored as a Husky Legend he was caught off guard. As an offensive lineman, Benn's idea of success was achieved through his team's success.
"To be chosen, I was surprised. I was blown away in a good way. Just being on the team, then being on the field, winning games was all that really mattered. When I looked at the Husky Legends and this thing started and all of these names of guys I've grown up watching and guys I played with, guys in the NFL, All-Pros and fan favorites. To see those people, you've looked up to through the years and then you're on the field in the same position as them is a huge honor. A little disbelief but really happy."
On Saturday, Kyle Benn will get his much deserved recognition of setting a standard of excellence for his hometown Huskies.
Monday, June 15
Tuesday, June 02
Saturday, May 02
Tuesday, April 21
