On Saturday, Sept. 21 the university inducted Bryan Bennett into the Southeastern Athletics Hall of Fame.

A native of Los Angeles, California, Bennett finished his university football career in the top five of all-time career passing yards.

Bennett talked about how much he enjoyed his career at the university.

“I loved playing here at Southeastern,” explained Bennett. “Southeastern and the Hammond community really opened up their arms to me after coming from Oregon. I loved every second of every game that I played here at Southeastern. My time here was really special and I cherished every moment while I was here.”

Before making a career in football, Bennett played track and basketball as well.

“I started playing football when I was 11 years old,” stated Bennett. “The first ever team I played for was the North Valley Golden Bears in the Los Angeles area. I played every sport at least for one year. But in high school, I was a track, football and basketball type of guy.”

Bennett transferred to the university after playing two full seasons at the University of Oregon.

“There was a couple different factors in my decision to transfer,” stated Bennett. “When I was looking for places to go Southeastern was at the top of my list because I knew a lot of the coaches here. The coaches had a good track history. I felt like they recruited me well and it just really worked out well that I started playing here.”

Now a quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League, Bennett shared how his playing days at the university prepared him for the CFL.

“One of the biggest things I got to come here and play,” said Bennett. “I really got a good opportunity to come here and get good in-game experience. I got the chance to get film put out there. Once I put some film out there, it showed players and coaches that I had what it takes to play at the next level. I will be forever grateful for the opportunities that Southeastern gave me.”

Bennett explained how it feels to be in the record books for the university.

“It is an amazing accomplishment,” stated Bennett. “It’s really awesome to be able to say I did that. It was great just to get to come here and get that experience. The fans and students made it a pleasurable experience here. I would not have been able to be a successful quarterback without the great coaches, receivers and lineman that I had while I was here. I was surrounded by successful people which led me to be successful while at Southeastern.”

Bennett shared what his favorite memory was while playing at the university.

“I had a lot of good memories when I played here,” commented Bennett. “One of my favorite memories would have to be my junior year against Sam Houston State, it was a must-win game in the playoffs. My second favorite memory was playing at home against a really talented McNeese State football team, and we got the job done and picked up the win.”

Bennett explained how he likes playing football in the CFL and how it was different than American football.

“I love playing up there,” stated Bennett. “The only thing that took some getting used to was the rules that they have in Canada. They have a bigger field which took some getting used to.”

Bennett is currently ranked fifth on the all-time passing yards list with 3,165 total yards and is second in averaged passing yards per game with an average of 226.1 yards, Bennett’s next game will be against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Oct. 5 at 6 p.m.