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Arrelious Benn interview
by Michael E Lawrence
October 19th 2011
 The Diner spoke exclusively with Buccaneers wide receiver Arrelious Benn Wednesday, and the emerging wideout talked about impact plays, facing Julius Peppers, and his little-known connection to the Roman Empire.
FD. Arrelious, talk about your evolving role in the Bucs’ offense…
AB. Yeah I’ve been working hard and coming off the injury and my coaches have had confidence in me to go out there and make some plays more and more.
FD. Take us through that 65-yard touchdown against the Saints last week…
AB. I just made a play. When you’re playing the Saints you got to get open, and they play a lot of man. Then Josh threw a great ball and I caught it and finished the play.
FD. There’s been a recent trend in Tampa that the offense comes alive late in games, how come?
 AB. You know the reason is we keep fighting. No matter how bad things look or seem, we keep fighting and that’s the only thing you can do.
FD. Tell us about your name – Arrelious Marcus Benn. Were your parents Roman historians?
AB. Yeah! That’s right! I’m named after the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. I guess my parents were historians somehow. It’s real different.
FD. But they flipped it…
AB. Yeah they did, and now I plan to name my son Marcus Arrelious too and flip it back.
FD. Do you have a son now?
 AB. No, but when I do have one, it’s going to be Marcus Arrelious!
FD. What about your personal goals on Sunday?
AB. I just want to take it one play at a time and do the little things necessary to do the best job I possibly can.
FD. Your counterpart Mike Williams has been talking about wanting to play better. Do you think the onus is on the wide receiver group to step it up?
AB. Yeah definitely, we want to take on that pressure, Mike and myself. We love it, we drive the bus and we’re the guys that start everything. We come out here, do what we got to do and go and make plays for this ballclub.
FD. Last of all, what kind of problems are you going to encounter with the Bears defense on Sunday?
AB. The Bears have a tough defense you know with Julius Peppers, the great linebackers – and they’re great up front. We have to make sure we hold those guys up and don’t leave any plays on the field, it’s as simple as that.
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