The New England Patriots want TE Martellus Bennett to remain with the team, and Bennett would be thrilled to stay in the Boston area. A twitter exchange between Bennett and a Patriots fan illuminates the tight end’s mind set approaching free agency.
“Please stay in NE,” a Patriots fan wrote to Bennett. “With your platform, you will affect [sic] more change outside the lines there in NE than any other market.”
“There's a lot of truth in that,” Bennett replied on Twitter. “Could really build up everything I'm trying to do for life after football in Boston. You guys get it.”
Bennett has always maintained that he wants to be considered as more than just a football player in his life. He loves the arts and is an avid reader and writer. In an earlier speech on Twitter, Bennett further explained what he meant by “everything I’m trying to for life after football.”
I’ve created paragraph breaks for the sake of flow and ease of reading.
“I've found Gold,” Bennett wrote on Twitter. “Fruit. Joy. Success. Happiness and I'm going to build a bridge so that my friends can do the same. This is a metaphor.
“I have two libraries in my house thousands of books. I love to read because I know that for a long time ancestors weren't allowed to. I love to write. Because for a lonnnnnngg time my people weren't "allowed" to. So I'm going to write my books, my apps and tell my stories. I'm going to speak my mind because guess what... that's right for a looonngg time my ancestors didn't have a voice.
“When you look at me what do you see? I know you wanna ask me what sport I play. I mean what else could I possibly be besides an athlete. When you look at me see the father, the awesome dad, the author, film director, business owner, champion, friend, Hufflepuff beast.
“Shut up and stick to sports!! Enjoy the low hanging fruits Marty. Don't climb to the top of the Apple tree and taste that high hanging fruit.
“This is part of the reason why I'm working to build Art Centers and Computer Labs for kids to learn coding. I'm not building gyms. I'm not interested in building football fields or doing football camps. I'm interested in doing film camps and coding camps.
“You don't have to be good at sports young man. Go upstairs and finish practicing that trombone. You don't have to rap. You can score films. You don't have to dunk. You can crossover and own the basketball team. The first thing they tear down are the basketball goals. They can't tear down your mind.
“See when [you] develop a vision they try to distract your vision with glittery things. Don't get distracted. Your favorite athlete stands on his platform to be seen. I stand on my platform to shout. To be heard. They can't steal your joy when it comes from above. I'm over the low hanging fruit. I'm at the top of the tree tossing down the really good fruit.
“This is important. I'm important. You're important. We're important. They're important. That's important. It's all good though. I will not get inside the box society provides for everyone at birth. And the box society sent for my daughter at birth we built a rocket ship out of it. Y'all thought I was just a goofy dude here to make you laugh. Well that's partially true I do enjoy that. But it's bigger than that.
“My goals this off season are to learn stop motion and how to play jazz on the trombone. What are do you guys have planned for the offseason.
“I appreciate all of the love. I honestly just want people to look at black kids and not say he's the next Michael Jordan all the damn time. I want them to be able to look into the crowd and say oh he's the next President. She's gonna be the next Spielberg. He's like Steve Jobs. There's nothing wrong with being an athlete but just know that you can be so much more.
“See the neighborhoods we grow up in we haven't been introduced to all of the possibilities. They roll you a ball and say good luck. I want to introduce them to new possibilities. You can get scholarships for creative writing, band, film school. Not just crossovers and stiff arms. You can literally do anything. I know that being an athlete is a proven method. We have millions of examples of it. Just go through a roster. There's a ton of I used ball to get out of the hood story. Use ball don't let ball use you.
“You can Be anything. You can do anything. Dream Bigger. Imagine More.”
Bennett wants to create opportunity for those that might not know alternatives exist. He wants to “build a bridge” so others can enjoy the same successes. Boston is one of the major cities in America where Bennett could use his platform as a launching point for greater impact.