He played college football for the Duke Blue Devils, earning third team All-American honors in 1983.

Bennett accepted a football scholarship from Duke University under then-head coach Shirley "Red" Wilson and offensive coordinator Steve Spurrier.

His best individual game was against Wake Forest University, setting three NCAA freshman records by completing 38 of 62 passes for 469 yards.

[3] In 1981, he injured his shoulder during the season opener, missing the next three games and he also had to overcome a challenge for the starting job from backup Ron Sally.

[5] Bennett completed his collegiate career as the top passer in the history of NCAA Division I-A football, with the most passes attempted (1,375), most passes completed (820), and most yardage (9,614), surpassing marks set by John Elway and Jim McMahon.

[7][8] On May 5, he instead chose to sign with the Jacksonville Bulls of the United States Football League, who selected him in the 1984 territorial draft.

He was signed to be a part of the Dallas replacement team that was given the mock name "Rhinestone Cowboys" by the media on October 1.

[15] Under head coach Perry Moss, he finished the season completing 172 of 323 passes for 2,304 yards with 49 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

During the shortened season, he was the league's top-ranked passer, posting 69 of 127 completions for 808 yards with 14 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

[19] In April, he was signed by the San Antonio Riders, where he was a backup behind Mike Johnson and Jason Garrett.

[20] On July 3, he was traded to the expansion Orlando Predators in exchange for defensive tackle Keith Williams, reuniting with head coach Perry Moss.

[21] He replaced starter Reggie Collier, finishing the season with 42 of 81 passes for 540 yards with 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

The greatest feat of his career the "Miracle Minute", a historic comeback in a game against the Detroit Drive on June 19.

For the 1996 season, Bennett played for the San Jose SaberCats, completing 26 of 55 passes for 376 yards with 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

[2] During his AFL playing career, he made five ArenaBowl appearances and was inducted into the Arena Football Hall of Fame on May 24, 2000.

Bennett was to be the head coach for the Orlando Fantasy during the 2010 season, but he decided that it wasn't a job he was interested in.

[25] In 2011, he was the offensive coordinator of the Arena Football League's New Orleans VooDoo, but he was dismissed three games into the season.

[26] He was named the head coach of the re-launched Orlando Predators in the National Arena League for the 2020 season.