He won a Super Bowl as a backup quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers in January 1982.
Benjamin played football at James Monroe High School in North Hills, California, and matriculated at Stanford University in 1974.
In 1977 under head coach Bill Walsh, Benjamin led Stanford to a 24–14 victory over LSU in the Sun Bowl and won both the Sammy Baugh Trophy (top passer in college football) and the W.J.
Voit Memorial Trophy, (outstanding college football player on the Pacific Coast).
He also founded the Sports in Society Institute at the New College of California, and directed its degree-completion program for former student-athletes.