A former Cincinnati Bengal died over the weekend in a motorcycle crash in Texas. Retired running back Cedric Benson, who played for three NFL teams, was 36.

Police said he was one of two people who died when the motorcycle and a white minivan crashed before 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, in Austin, Texas. A woman in her 30s riding on Benson’s motorcycle was also killed when the minivan drove into an intersection, police told CBS Austin.

Former Texas Longhorns coach Mack Brown, who recruited Benson out of high school to play for the University of Texas, tweeted: “We’ve coached a lot of tough players but none were tougher than Cedric. He was a true spirit.”

He had the second-most rushing yards at UT, according to the Austin American-Statesmen.

“We lost a true Longhorns Legend, one of the best running backs in college football history and a really special man,” current Texas Longhorns coach Tom Herman said.

Benson went on to play in the NFL from 2005 to 2012 for the Bengals, Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers.

His longest run was with the Bengals, from 2008 to 2011. During two of those seasons — in 2009 and 2011 — the team made the playoffs.

“He gave us an element we didn’t have. We had complementary guys, but Cedric gave us a missing element,” Bengals running backs coach Jim Anderson said in a statement. “He was a good man.”

Benson had three 1,000-yard seasons with the Bengals, according to a statement from the team.

Over the course of his eight-season NFL career, Benson made 32 touchdowns and rushed for 6,012 yards. He finished as a member of the Green Bay Packers in 2012 and started in the league with the Chicago Bears from 2005 to 2007.

Benson was the fourth overall draft pick for the Chicago Bears in 2005 and was on the team when Chicago secured the 2006 NFC championship, the Bears said in a statement after his passing.

Texas Patch editor Tony Cantu contributed to this report.