Central Michigan University Athletics
Black Eyed LB
9/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 24, 2003
Former Central Michigan University linebacker Ray Bentley was one of the most feared players in CMU and Mid-American Conference history. In 1982, Bentley was named the MAC's inaugural winner of the Vern Smith Award (then called the Jefferson Award) given to the league's most valuable player. To this day, Bentley remains the only defensive player to be tabbed with the award. Bentley held CMU's career tackles record with 443 until it was broken in 2000 by Brian Leigeb. A two-time first team All-MAC selection, Bentley went on to a pro career in the USFL and the NFL. He won a MAC title in 1980 and a USFL title with the Michigan Panthers in 1983 before playing in two Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills. Following his playing career, Ray joined the broadcast booth where he still calls games for the Arena League. He has also dabbled in coaching, guiding the Buffalo Destroyers in the Arena League and now currently coaching his son's JV team. Bentley was in Mount Pleasant a few weeks ago for the Playing with the Pros fundraiser. CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM sat down with No. 57 for this conversation.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: What are you up to these days?
BENTLEY: I'm doing color commentary for Arena Football on NBC. It's from February to July so I'm pretty much off the rest of the year. Right now I'm coaching my son's junior varsity football team in Buffalo, New York. I'm the defensive coordinator at Williamsville South.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: There's an old saying that offense wins games, defense wins championships. What are your thoughts about that?
BENTLEY: I agree with that 100 percent. Defense sets the tone for a football team, it sets the attitude. If the other team can't score you can't lose.
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High-flying Ray Bentley was named the MAC's most valuable player in 1982.  |
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CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: There is a famous photo of you kind of flying through the air that was used for your senior profile in the game program. Where did you get the idea to do that?
BENTLEY: I was reading a preseason magazine that summer and in it I saw a picture of a guy doing a similar thing. I said to myself I've got to do that. On picture day, the photographer got down and she was on the ground and I came running and jumping off a bench trying to get the perfect shot. That's how I got my first turf burns of the year.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: You were known for wearing eye black when you played. What was your inspiration for that?
BENTLEY: I was a big Alice Cooper fan in high school and I don't know if I loved him more or my parents hated him more. But anyways, my senior year we were playing at Byron Center on Halloween. I was Alice Cooper for Halloween and it carried into the game. Before the game I didn't have any make-up on but we went back into the locker room and there was water color paint. My finger was wet and I dipped it in the black. A mirror was there so I put it on and went back in the locker room and all the guys loved it so much that everybody did it. We won 40-0 and I never played without it after that.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: What was it like playing in the USFL when that league was trying to establish itself?
BENTLEY: That was a great league. It was a great opportunity for a lot of guys. It was the kind of a deal where nobody gave a damn about us so we compensated for that by really caring for each other. We had a special team. We (Michigan Panthers) won the championship that first year. It was the most close knit team I have ever been associated with.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: What was it like playing pro sports for one of your hometown teams?
BENTLEY: That was the reason why I went to the USFL right away and didn't wait for the NFL draft. It was a great opportunity to play in Michigan. My father was sick at the time and that way he didn't have to travel far to see me so that was a big part of it.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: You were fortunate to play in two Super Bowls. How were those experiences?
BENTLEY: It was awesome. They were certainly the highlight of my professional career. We should have won, I understand that. But, I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. That's what you play for. It's why you start playing the game, to get to the Super Bowl and get the ring. I was blessed to have that opportunity twice.
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Bentley played in two Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills. |
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CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: Do you still follow CMU athletics and how?
BENTLEY: I follow it rabidly. Anytime I can get a game on TV, radio, the internet, I'll watch or listen to it. I check the internet and newspapers and talk to people who are still close to the program.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: You've done play-by-play and color commentary during for television career, which one do you prefer?
BENTLEY: Color, hands down. Say you are going out to party with all your buddies but somebody has to drive, that's the play-by-play guy. I don't like that.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: What did you think about the TV experts when you were playing?
BENTLEY: I thought they all stunk, basically. I liked some of the guys, like John Madden, I've gotten to know some of them now and you look at them differently. I've always been critical of the announcers from the time I started watching football with my dad and I think I got it from him. Somebody would say something stupid and we'd sit there and yell and complain at the TV.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: You've authored several children's books. Talk about how that idea originated and evolved.
BENTLEY: I went to school to be an English major and a writer. That was my goal from the start. At the time I started writing the books, I had three kids under the age of four. I would read books to them all the time. I really believe in reading to kids, even when they are in the womb. After I would read the books, I'd complain to my wife saying that they were trash, kind of like how I complained about the TV announcers. She got sick of hearing it so one day she told me to "shut up and write your own book then if you know how to do it right." I said OK, I will. I was injured in 1987 and I was out four weeks and that's when I started doing it. It kind of grew from there. I ended up writing and publishing seven children's books. There were three Darby the Dinosaur books named after former CMU lineman teammate Dean Darby. He's still asking for residual checks. And I did Bubba Gator and the Gator Family and then I wrote a book for Rogers Department Store in Grand Rapids called Roger Raccoon goes to the Zoo. That was a fundraiser for the John Ball Zoo.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: Talk about high school football in the Grand Rapids area. Both you and Gary Hogeboom, two of the top players in CMU history, came out of the Grand Rapids area about five years apart.
BENTLEY: I think it's a great area for high school football and youth football. People put a lot of time and effort into it. It's important to families and almost a way of life. In West Michigan, football is a big part of everything. I was fortunate to have that growing up as my dad was a high school coach when I was playing at Hudsonville. It's something that you don't really appreciate until you move away. Now living in Western New York, it doesn't even compare. There was a lot more emphasis, work and participation into the game. Where I am now it's almost an afterthought. I think that's sad. I love the West Michigan football mentality.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: What was your best memory from your playing days at CMU?
BENTLEY: It was my junior year when we were playing Miami at home. I think we were both 5-2 going into the game so it was a high-stakes kind of game. They were ahead 10-7 and there was like 10 seconds left and they had to snap it one more time. Basically the game is over. That was when everybody used to just snap the ball and lean against each other and the play was over. Well, I was in such a rage because we were losing so I lined up about five yards deep and I knew it was going to be snapped on one. So I timed it up and as the ball was snapped I was flying just like that picture. I hit the quarterback and it started a little fight. People were pulling people off one another. The game just ended too soon.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: Talk about your Arena Football coaching experience and how that type of football is different?
BENTLEY: Arena Football is more exciting than other types of football. The rules kind of make it an offensive display. It is really tough to play defense. That's one of the challenges I loved about it. I love Arena Football. It's a different game. The rules are different, the strategies are entirely different. I think it's a fun, exciting situation. All of the games come down to the wire and you've got a lot of points being put on the board. I kind of drives an old defensive guy crazy but the thing of it is, if you can get a couple stops, which is all you need, then you win. It's exciting. I love it.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: OK, here's the lighting round when we ask you some quick hitters. Pro QB you put the hardest hit on?
BENTLEY: Dan Marino
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: Current pro player you'd same your game most resembles?
BENTLEY: Zach Thomas
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: NFL preseason ... too long or just right?
BENTLEY: Too long, way too long.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: Best TV analyst other than yourself?
BENTLEY: Johnny Madden
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: Who would win in a fight, Darby or Barney?
BENTLEY: Please. It wouldn't be a fight. It would be a massacre.
CMUCHIPPEWAS.COM: Best pro stadium?
BENTLEY: I used to like the Old Sombrero, the Tampa Bay Stadium. I liked to play there. That and the L.A. Coliseum are two of my favorites.
