Pastor remembers former NFL player Barry Bennett and wife after son is charged with their murder
A memorial service took place at the Long Prairie Gray Eagle High School Thursday for former NFL linesman Barry Bennett and his wife, Carol, days after their 22-year-old son was charged with their murder.
Pastor Dave Gibson, a longtime friend of the couple who eulogized them, talked with KARE 11 a day earlier about how their deaths impacted him.
"It was just like a gut-punch. It's just really, really a tragedy," Gibson said.
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“When I got news of his passing, it was like a bomb had dropped,” he told KSTP.
Bennett and his wife, both 63, were found fatally shot at their home in Long Prairie on Aug. 21, The Associated Press said. On Tuesday, their son, Dylan, was charged in court on two counts of second-degree murder days after he was arrested at a hotel in Cancun, Mexico, on Saturday.
"Dave was more than a friend. He's like a brother. There's a Scripture that says there's a friend that sticks closer than a brother," Gibson said of Bennett who played 11 seasons in the NFL for teams that included the New Orleans Saints, the New York Jets, and Minnesota Vikings.
Gibson explained that he and Bennett first became friends in middle school and they were connected through their love of sports.
"Barry's resume, athletically, is quite impressive," Gibson said. "He was an all-state tackle in football and state heavyweight wrestling champ. He played 11 seasons in the NFL. But I think the greatest legacy of Barry's life isn't measured by the resume. I think you measure it by the person's eulogy. What do they say about you when you pass?"
He explained that throughout Bennett’s NFL career, they met frequently through Gibson’s work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Gibson told KSTP that Bennett was "a big guy, very strong, very competitive, but he had a real heart and compassion for other people."
It’s no surprise then that when Bennett retired from football he served as a deacon at First Baptist Church in Long Prairie where his wife was also very active.
"I think how they lived their lives will echo into eternity," Gibson noted. "Carol was just a gem. She swept Barry off his feet and they had four wonderful kids."
Dylan was one of two boys the couple would later adopt. Reports show that last year Dylan had begun expressing homicidal thoughts about killing his parents. Gibson was not aware of this.
"People need help, and here you have two parents that are trying to help and trying to invest their lives in their young boys," Gibson said. "One of the boys will give a eulogy, a tribute to his parents tomorrow. The other one just had a wrong turn and I'm just really praying for Dylan."
On Tuesday, a judge set Dylan's bail at $3 million.
