ESPN ran an E:60 feature on the brothers Martellus and Michael Bennett. Martellus is a tight end for the New England Patriots, while Michael is a defensive lineman for the Seattle Seahawks. The feature follows the two on their journey through life an their never-ending aim for self-expression.
Martellus has always been the more well-regarded of the brothers, ranking as the #1 tight end prospect in the country while growing up in Texas and becoming a 2nd round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys.
Michael has been the underdog. He was smaller, he didn’t have the same production, he went undrafted and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But once they reached the NFL, the brothers went in different directions.
Michael became a starter for the Buccaneers and eventually signed a big contract with the Seahawks in 2013, winning a Super Bowl and reaching another.
Martellus toiled away in Dallas where he felt suffocated and underappreciated behind future Hall of Fame TE Jason Witten.
“I’m not a back-up,” Martellus explains. “So, yeah, I was frustrated as f—k. Witten didn’t talk to me when I was in Dallas. He ain’t help me. Very rarely did we talk. He didn’t teach me nothing, he didn’t help me out.
“You know, there were times when I asked him stuff and he’d be like, ‘Figure it out.’ I hated him. I hated Witten. [I was like] man, this guy down here, he can’t run like me, he can’t jump like me, but how does he keep getting open?!
“They tried to put their thumb on me, you know, like try to control me or make me something I wasn’t. Instead of trying to change my game and make my game better, they was trying to change me as a person, as a human being, and that was something I was always fighting. I didn’t like [Cowboys head coach] Jason Garrett. I never really got along with him.”
There was a moment when Michael’s Buccaneers played Martellus’ Cowboys, and Michael managed to sack Cowboys QB Tony Romo, and Martellus started to celebrate on the sideline before remembering his team.
And so Martellus eventually escaped from Dallas and made his way to the New York Giants to resurrect his career for a year, before cashing in with the Chicago Bears.
Martellus put up career numbers in Chicago, but he thought the team lacked leadership. He claims he told the coaches that defensive players were getting chippy on the field, and that if they didn’t put a clamp on it that he would have to execute a hockey-type peer-on-peer justice.
Then-rookie CB Kyle Fuller grabbed Martellus’ facemask in practice one day and twisted it, so the tight end reacted and body slammed him to the ground. Martellus earned a 6-game suspension and didn’t have the support of his offensive teammates, like WR Brandon Marshall.
“Some of the top people in the Bears organization called me,” Martellus explains, “and I said, ‘he could have broken my neck,’ and then I was like, ‘and then what would have happened?’ And he said, ‘well your neck would’ve just been broken.’ I said ‘f—k you’ and I hung up the phone.
“How do you expect me to react? At some point I got to set the tone. I can’t help it if you feel like I fight with the team, yeah I fight with the team, I grew up fighting. That’s the difference between me and a lot of mother f—kers on the team. I fight to win. You got a bunch of bitches on the roster, they don’t fight to win, they just want to push and shove. You can’t win with that.
“You don’t need linebackers that use forks and knives, you want linebackers that eat with their hands, you know what I’m saying? All mother f—kers that worry about how their shoes look, come out and play. We just had a bunch of bitches on the roster, that’s why we didn’t win games. And coaches liked the bitches.”
The coaches on the Bears appointed QB Jay Cutler to be a team captain and Martellus disagreed. Martellus argued that the coaching staff wanted the quarterback to be the leader so they made him a captain, despite the fact that everyone else in the locker room knew who actually led the team (Martellus voted for himself).
But while Martellus was falling out of favor in Chicago, Michael was losing a Super Bowl to the Patriots.
“You gotta have respect for them, but I didn’t like them,” the Bennetts’ father says about the Super Bowl outcome. “I don’t like nothing about the Patriots. I don’t like the Patriots.”
Little did their dad know that Martellus was about to be traded to that same Patriots team.
“I just felt like I was going into something that has something established, that I could just be a part of,” Martellus says about the trade. “So I was super excited.”
Going from Jay Cutler to Tom Brady has sparked Martellus’ production and he’s back as one of the top three or five tight ends in the NFL, along with Rob Gronkowski. Martellus seems to enjoy playing with Brady’s passion and leadership.
“The difference between Tom and I, we’re both good looking guys,” Martellus jokes, “but I think his voice may be a little bit sexier than mine. My voice isn’t that sexy, but he called me on the phone, I’m like, ‘baby,’ to my wife, ‘Tom got a sexy voice.’”
After struggling under other head coaches, Bennett seems to enjoy playing under Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, too.
“He’s straight forward, honest, and fair,” Martellus explains. “Like, for me, everything is so straight to the point. You know what he wants from you. Me, I love that approach a lot more than a lot of other s—t I’ve been a part of.”
The Bennett brothers and their dad want to have a family reunion of sorts at the Super Bowl, which takes place in their home state of Texas. With Martellus on the Patriots and Michael on the Seahawks, a Super Bowl rematch isn’t out of the question- and dad will be supporting Martellus if that takes place.
“I don’t if I should go on record with this, but I’ma say this,” Papa Bennett says. “I would love to see Martellus get a ring. I would love to see Martellus get a ring.”
Let’s see if Martellus, Brady, and Belichick can make Father Bennett’s wish come true.
Martellus also had some advice for fantasy football players, which I think is poor advice.
“Dang, fantasy football, man I’m not a fantasy football, do not draft me, I am not a fantasy football tight end,” Martellus claims. “I am a true blue collar tight end. The other tight ends, they don’t know what it means to get in a three point stance, like, come on, don’t come at me about fantasy football, my hand’s in the dirty, bro. I’m working over here.”
Bennett currently leads tight ends with 4 touchdowns and ranks 2nd with 320 total yards. He’s the #2 or #3 tight end, depending on if you play PPR or standard. He should be on your team.