THOUSAND OAKS — For the first time in his adult life, Stetson Bennett IV spent a fall away from football. It’s a sport that has been integral in Bennett’s life, from hearing stories about the game in his grandfather’s kitchen to amassing one of the most decorated résumés in college history.
But after being picked by the Rams in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the former Georgia quarterback had stepped away from the game, placed on the non-football injury list after Week 1, head coach Sean McVay and the organization declining to reveal the reason why.
“At first, I kind of just got away,” Bennett said Tuesday after an offseason practice, his first time speaking with the media since his surprise departure. “And then you start getting curious again and you start watching it with the eye and you start thinking about it that way. It’s hard to turn off whenever it starts going again. I saw it for how I’ve always seen it, just a beautiful game to create relationships with your teammates and then you go compete against the best and find out if you can, which I’m excited to get back to doing.”
Much like McVay before him, Bennett, 26, declined to get into the specifics Tuesday about his sabbatical.
He stated that he was at home in Georgia during the season, but, “As far as what led to that, what transpired and all that, I think we’re going to keep that in-house.” The most Bennett would say, when asked directly, was that his absence was mental health-related.
He expressed gratitude to McVay, General Manager Les Snead and other Rams decision-makers for allowing him the time away from the team. Bennett said he had several discussions with the Rams before they came to the decisions to put him on the non-football injury list.
“Of course it was [a difficult decision], but one we thought necessary at the time,” Bennett said.
It was the final note of a year that had been filled with several key moments in Bennett’s life, for better or worse. That January, he won his second consecutive national championship for the Bulldogs at SoFi Stadium. Later that month, he was arrested in Texas for public intoxication after police received calls about a man banging on doors in the middle of the night.
Bennett owned up to that mistake at the NFL combine, then went on to be selected by the Rams that April. He appeared poised to back up Matthew Stafford as a rookie after receiving most of the quarterback repetitions during the preseason, until the surprise announcement after Week 1.
He spoke with the Rams a few times from Georgia, but said he otherwise kept to himself. But as spring rolled around and it came time to begin offseason workouts again, he felt it was time to return to the sport.
“Piss or get off the pot,” he said of the decision. “You kind of had to get back at some point.”
He rejoined the team for conditioning and weightlifting, and has been present since OTAs began last week. He admitted to being a little nervous on the first day, given how long it had been since he had played quarterback and run a huddle. But it’s gotten easier over the last week.
“It’s been cool to get back. Great to see the guys, wasn’t with them last year. Great to get back to football. It’s what I love,” Bennett said. “A lot of nerves the first day, but it’s gone, I wouldn’t say seamlessly, but it’s gotten better each day.”
“It’s been a pleasure working with him. He’s in a good place and he’s out here, I know he’s done a great job being a sponge,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. “He’s come to work every single day focused with the intent of getting better and that’s all you can ask these guys.”
Bennett isn’t sure if there’s some universal lesson to be learned from his experience calling it “very specific to me.” But he came away with a greater appreciation for the job he’s allowed to do.
“It showed me I love football, excited to come out here every single day,” Bennett said. “You get to see the world for the first time without football, what that might be like, whatever, you just don’t have it. So come out here, you’re hungry every single day.”
