He has a career filled with memories provided by Reggie Miller, Michael Jordan, Bob Knight, Lou Holtz and a crazy night just outside Detroit. Here's more about the retiring Pacers public relations man.
INDIANAPOLIS — David Benner has been the calm, stoic, unflappable PR guy for the Indiana Pacers for nearly three decades. He is the guy who woke up to a 5 a.m. phone call from a reporter about an incident at a strip club he knew nothing about.
"And then they told me to turn around and acknowledge the crowd on the other side," Benner, 66, said with tears in his eyes. "And here comes Reggie. And I lost it." Benner still can't talk about that moment without crying. "I wondered..."he said this week from his Pacers office,"if Miller would come."When the Pacers drafted Miller over Indiana basketball favorite Steve Alford in 1987, much of the state took offense. President Donnie Walsh got heated calls to his home phone. Fans were irate.Benner was a sportswriter for the Indianapolis Star in 1987 and he covered the frenzy.
When the Pacers called about Benner's retirement, Miller didn't hesitate. He wouldn't for a second miss flying back to Indiana to bid Benner a final farewell inside the fieldhouse. He started to explain the trip to his son, Ryker. The brawl was something that happened, he said."You don't have any control over that. Nobody had control over. It was certainly an interesting couple of weeks."
Benner's fax machine never stopped printing. He couldn't keep up with the phone calls; his voicemail was constantly full. He had to tell media he could get them in the building but he couldn't guarantee them a seat. When they were finished with their chores outside and a little roughhousing , the family would watch IU games on an old black-and-white TV. On Sundays, it was tuned in to the Chicago Bears.
But after graduating high school, he wasn't exactly sure what was for him."I didn't know what I was going to do in life." Being in the newsroom was something Benner loved. And he knew then what the wanted to do. He wanted to one day write real stories. So in 1975, he headed off to IU.In Bloomington, Benner immediately went to work for The Daily Student, covering intramural sports, men's and women's gymnastics, swimming back in the days of legendary coach Doc Counsilman and men's soccer, when Jerry Yeagley was coach.
In February 1979, Benner wrote about Larry Bird being held to four points in Indiana State's 91-72 win over Bradley."How did they do it?" Benner wrote the next day. "Simply by following him around as if he were the Pied Piper and allowing him just enough room to maybe breathe on occasion." But covering Notre Dame football in its glory days was something he couldn't pass up. Three years later, he couldn't pass up another offer, covering IU basketball during the Bob Knight era.
"I agonized over it because I loved sports writing. I loved journalism. I loved the newspaper business as it was," he said."Finally, I figured, I grew up watching the Pacers. I was a Pacers fan at the time. I was 39 and single and figured why not?"What Benner will miss most, he said, are the relationships. His colleagues, the players, the coaches, the front office. They have been his family for nearly three decades.
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