There's heartbreak etched on Christian Benford's face, but that's only half the story

Christian Benford prefers to maintain a low profile, but his presence within the walls of One Bills Drive is formidable.

He says little but is often last to leave the Buffalo Bills practice field.

Hes not satisfied to start as a former sixth-round pick or to shine among the NFL s best cornerbacks through two weeks of the 2024 season.

Hell declare with quiet assurance that hes driven by Lombardi Trophies, the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He will refute any notion that he has made it as an accusation.

Advertisement Which is extraordinary considering how far hes made it.

But then you hear his story and see the tattoo on his right cheek, a heart with half its color drained forever, and you realize this is how he fills the void.

Benford avoided having his dreams and maybe more snuffed out in Americas most notorious streets.

He was a middle-schooler, merely a child, who had already witnessed more death and felt more pain and gone to bed hungry more nights than anyone should in a lifetime when the mission manifested, a responsibility to drag his family out of West Baltimores ruthless snare.

His family lived in Bruce Manor apartments, a three-minute bike ride from a complex that became known by its tenants as Murder Mall around the time Benford was 10.

Carlton C.

Douglass Funeral Services, about 800 feet away from Bruce Manor, was used as the business front for Avon Barksdales drug gang on HBOs The Wire.

Ive handled surges of young people Ive known since they were in their mothers womb, mortician Carlton C.

Douglass said.

To have their mother or father call me and tell them they needed my services because their child had been killed, thats rough.

The Wire, based on real people and events, ran from 2002-08 and was acclaimed for its unapologetically detailed portrayal of a city that last year recorded fewer than 300 homicides for just the first time in nearly a decade.

There were almost 6,000 overdose deaths in the past six years .

That was real life, Douglass said.

The names of the dealers they used were real people.

Some of them I knew.

I served families of drug dealers who were killed.

There are some good people in that neighborhood.

Unfortunately, some of the good people are scared, and the problems overtake them.

Its a sad situation.

GO DEEPER Bird, 'The Wire,' a life sentence paroled and a Colts game 40 years in the making Benford saw dead bodies on the sidewalk, a few of them boys he ran around with or older kids he emulated.

Some days, the basketball court across the street was unavailable because cops were marking spent shell casings or identifying another corpse.

Asked recently about those days, he quickly counted up double-digit funerals many closed-casket before he stopped trying.

People he knows in prison would require another long tally.

Advertisement Six people, occasionally more, filled his familys tiny, two-bedroom unit.

Four kids would scrounge for loose change between the couch cushions, hoping for enough to buy one bag of chips from the vending machine for dinner.

Benford learned ways to make quick money, ways hed rather wink about than explain.

One day, in a shootout, a bullet almost dropped him.

Hes convinced one eventually would have.

People I grew up with died this year and the next year and the next and the next and the next, Benford said.

Family, people I was close with.

I like to take the burden of everybodys pain because I feel like I can handle it.

When my sisters and everybody are crying, I want them to come to me.

Let me be your shoulders.' Benfords NFL journey could have statistically, it should have gotten derailed before it had a chance.

Resentment and anguish consume even strong men.

Yet he found ways to dig deeper.

Still an early teenager, already with a dead brother Benford was too young to keep memories of, he reconciled to defeat that bleak future.

So many close people were dying, and just seeing how we were living, Benford said, I was, like, F it.

Im all in.' He was too adventurous to stick with one activity, but his mother eventually channeled her little daredevils energy.

Christel Perry wouldnt let her son stop playing football because she knew what befell easily distracted West Baltimore boys.

While his father, Jewell Benford, arranged and quietly supported Christians youth football pursuits in nearby Owings Mills, Md., Perry was the one who hectored him to stay focused.

I had moments where, Ill be honest, I wasnt too fond of football because I learned there were other ways to make money.

Thats all Im going to say on that, Benford said.

But football became my mission.

Advertisement His family scraped up enough money to enroll him at Calvert Hall College High, a prestigious Catholic school in Towson, Md.

It was a culture shock for Benford, who lasted there for his freshman and part of his sophomore years.

It wasnt my cup of tea, Benford said, unable to suppress a laugh.

Cant say too much, man.

Me being dumb my relationship with God wasnt close to what it is today and not tolerating disrespect, I didnt care how old you was or your title.

Jewell, a social worker who specializes in treating drug addiction, eventually got a better job with the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the family moved from Bruce Manor to the working-class suburb of Randallstown.

Benford played quarterback, receiver and every defensive back position for the Randallstown Rams.

He intercepted 17 passes in two seasons and was invited to play in the prestigious Big 33 Football Classic between Maryland and Pennsylvania prospects.

Benford also drew a watchful eye that would change his life.

Ola Adams was Villanovas defensive backs coach.

Hes a nice kid, Adams said.

But theres something that tells you he comes from a hard place.

Struck by the mother-son dynamic, Adams pursued Benford diligently in part because of Perrys involvement.

His mother was a fierce advocate for him, a protector, said Adams, now the safeties and defensive backs coach at Indiana University.

It was almost like a mother bear over her baby bear.

Benford back then also ran the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds (4.53 seconds as he left Villanova) and processed complex coaching instructions on the spot.

Villanova, an FCS school with three players drafted in 35 years before Benford arrived, found itself a serious ballplayer.

By the time he showed up for college, Benford was faced with an unplanned pregnancy.

The immature kid who couldnt cope with Calvert Hall a couple years earlier didnt recede, though, and Calvin was a blessing.

I think my son saved me, to be honest, Benford said.

Even though I had a mission, I was young and dumb.

My son gave me more to consider.

Advertisement Calvins mother accommodated Benfords move to Philadelphia so he could play football at Villanova.

Benford majored in communications, minored in psychology and sociology.

He started eight games as a true freshman in 2018, led the team with five interceptions and was named the Colonial Athletic Conferences rookie of the year.

Whoa, where did this guy come from? said linebacker Forrest Rhyne , a Villanova teammate who in 2022 played for the Indianapolis Colts .

As a freshman, you show up in the summer, go to camp and head right into the season.

Theres no spring ball or offseason.

That dude was making so many splash plays right away.

After Benfords sophomore year, he made the CAA Commissioners Academic Honor Roll for the first of three times.

COVID pushed his junior season into the spring of 2021, and while waiting for games and studying remotely, Benford emerged as an unquestioned leader.

The hungriest players got together for workouts at Benfords urging.

Rhyne lived 90 minutes away from Baltimore in Waynesboro, Pa., and would find a way to meet Benford on any patch of grass in between.

Thats why football is so awesome, Rhyne said.

The difference in our environments was unbelievable, but we were always connected by that pigskin.

Hes such a disciplined and determined guy.

I dont know if thats because of where hes from or what hes been through.

I cant tell you what drove him, but he was inspiring in how he saw the world.

In the March 6 season opener at Stony Brook, Benford snagged an interception and returned a desperation onside kick 30 yards the other way to ice the victory.

Perry had been in the hospital, but shortly before kickoff, she had told Benford there was nothing to worry about.

She assured him she was feeling better and would be home soon.

After the game, Benfords little brother called.

Advertisement I was in a good mood, Benford said.

So I was messing around with him, whoopty-whoop.

In the background I heard that certain cry where you know what it is.

His mother died during the game.

She was 57.

Benford has never revealed why she was hospitalized or how she died.

It broke me, he said.

That was my spinal cord, my angel, my everything.

Adams keeps Perrys funeral card and a collage of photos in his car.

For the past three years, when he senses Benford might be going through anything difficult, Adams will text a photo to remind him shes still watching.

I can see them laughing and joking as I think about them, Adams said, his voice quaking.

She was real loving.

She was always checking to make sure he was OK but she wanted me to coach him hard.

She was at the games, so full of support.

Broken as he was, Benford refused to let it affect his obligations to his Villanova teammates.

He insisted on playing seven days later in the home opener against Rhode Island, returning to campus with the heart tattoo on his right cheek.

Half of my heart is broken; its gone, Benford said.

When I was younger, tattoos was my healing.

Im not a talker.

Im not big on expressing anything to anybody.

So I would get a tat and you can read that.

Benford has ink all over his 6-foot-1, 205-pound frame, but Perry had been adamant: no face tattoos.

He believes now his mom would feel honored.

Villanova went 10-3 in Benfords senior season, reaching the FCS quarterfinals.

He intercepted seven passes, brought back one for a touchdown, broke up another 18 attempts and was voted FCS All-American.

The Bills drafted him in the sixth round, 185th overall.

But they also drafted University of Florida cornerback Kaiir Elam , the son and nephew of former NFL defensive backs, 23rd overall.

Benford appeared to face long odds to even make the 53-man roster out of training camp, but he had an edge.

He always had higher responsibilities than everybody else did, Rhyne said.

He always had to put other people first.

There was no time for him to be an 18-year-old college football player.

He had a son.

When his mom died, I saw that sense of responsibility continue to heighten.

Advertisement He had to focus on being there for his family, his brothers, his sisters.

He had to be a rock.

Benford was the revelation of Buffalos 2022 offseason.

Elam was the purer athlete but prone to costly lapses.

Benford rarely made mistakes, was almost always in the right place and didnt heap extra anxiety on the defensive staff, earning the trust of coach Sean McDermott as a rookie.

In the NFLs curtain-raising Thursday night opener that year, Benford started against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams .

The next game, on Monday Night Football, he torpedoed hulking Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry for a 4-yard loss.

When I saw that, I said, Oh God! OK! Youre not scared of nothing! That dude was ready to go, recalled Adams.

Benford broke his hand against the Miami Dolphins in Week 3 but missed only two games.

An oblique injury in the Thanksgiving victory over the Detroit Lions put him on injured reserve.

He started five of nine games he played as a rookie, intercepting a pass, breaking up four more and making 24 tackles.

Last year he re-established himself as the starter.

In 16 games, including one in the postseason, he recorded two interceptions, eight breakups, three forced fumbles, a recovery and 55 tackles, three for losses.

Benford was one of only 32 players last year with at least 40 solo tackles, 60 targets and double-digit passes defensed.

C.B.

is one of the most interesting people Ive ever met, Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard said.

Hes a dude with unwavering confidence in himself and his abilities, which you need at corner.

The ability to flush it and move on to the next play, its unlike anybody Ive ever seen.

Elam and Benford met at Baltimore/Washington International Airport right after they were drafted and have competed for playing time ever since, but theres no jealousy about contract numbers, no rivalry about playing time.

Advertisement Benford pushes Elam.

They routinely work together on the practice field long after nearly all other Bills players and coaches have headed inside.

Hes always down to work, Elam said.

Hes just always trying to sharpen his tools.

Hes the ultimate at wanting to get better.

Elam had the best offseason of his career.

Benford and eighth-year pro Rasul Douglas remained the starters, but Elam was pushing for snaps, and with Douglas in the final year of his contract, Buffalos 2022 rookie classmates might prove the cornerback tandem of the future.

All-Pro way or no way, thats what we say to each other, Elam said.

We hold each other to a standard like that.

Thats why we stay after, always striving to get better.

If he gets beat, Im all on his head: Next play! I know it wont happen again! Even before practice, Im telling him, Be great today.

He tells me the same thing.

Were passionate about it.

So far, Benford and Douglas have been a sensational tandem while injuries have befallen top players around them, most notably Bernard and nickelback Taron Johnson .

Buffalos safeties, Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin , never started together until this year.

Benford and Douglas are the main reasons star rookie Marvin Harrison Jr.

had one reception for 4 yards in the opener, and Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle together managed seven catches for 65 yards last Thursday.

But the quickest way to get side-eye from Benford is to ask about him having made it from sixth-round draft choice to starting in his NFL debut.

Thats trivial to him in so many respects.

He wants to conquer footballs individual and team pinnacles.

To him, satisfaction equals complacency, and thats not what busted him out of Bruce Manor or Randallstown or even Villanova.

It was my purpose to get here however I got here, Benford said.

It was meant for me to keep betting on myself and shock the world.

Advertisement He has allowed himself one gesture of completion, although it comes with a caveat.

On the back of his neck he said a second face tattoo would be too crazy is another, larger heart.

As Benford bowed his head and pulled down his collar, it became clear this heart had a bandage on it.

Perhaps not fully recovered, but mending.

My heart is fixed up, Benford said.

You never want to heal from anything in life, but you need to understand it, learn how to feel it and keep prospering.

Otherwise, itll crush you.

(Photo: Jorge Lemus / Getty Images).

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