After I heard about the trading of Martellus Bennett it made me sad. I realize the NFL is a very competitive business and this is just part of how the game is played off the field, but I do think it is easy to forget the human side of the game. I don’t blame Fox or Pace as they have a job to do, and the pressure is immense to produce in this league more than ever before. I wanted to share a quick story with folks on this group because I think it shows that many of these guys that play are more than amazing hits and catches. Martellus Bennett is in fact a wonderful person and leader, though he is also very competitive in a way that doesn’t seem to fit into the Bears locker-room plans these days.
A few years ago my son was playing youth football in our local town in the Chicago Western suburbs – he was in 5th grade and his team was in a division that was comprised of some of the best of the towns we were playing. Unfortunately, his team was the second tier in our town but playing in a top tier division so they had a really really tough year. They stayed together and played well as a team and always listened to the coaches and I was really impressed how they held together even though some of the games were really brutal. Even in games where they were getting blown out the kids continued to work hard and had a great teamwork mentality. A lot of this had to do with the coach at the time.
Well, the end of the year came and our team had lost every game with most being blowouts. I wanted to do something special for the boys as it had been a really emotional and tough year, even beyond the football field, so I called some folks I knew and was able to get Martellus Bennett to come out to one of their last practices (even though there were no more games) as the season was winding down. The idea was he would stop by, throw the ball around, and then take off – 15-minutes at most. We live in the Western burbs and this was a Thursday night during the season, so I was amazed we could even get him to come out for a few minutes. Well, that day there were tons of storms and we had to cancel practice. I thought the event was going to be a bust and called my buddy, who informed me that Martellus was still excited to come out and meet the kids, he would come to my house instead.
We invited all the boys over with their family members, without telling them what was going to happen (just in case he didn’t show up). Right around 7pm a black SUV showed up at our house and out popped Martellus Bennett, man was he big and his hand engulfed mine when we shook hands. I was amazed that he had come all the way out to meet these kids, and didn’t know what to expect.
He came in the house and we had all the kids sit down around him in one of our big family rooms. I figured he was going to share some stories about playing football with them. But he started out connecting with them right away. Somehow he remembered everything about them, the name of the team, their colors, the coaches names, the fact that they had lost every game (he mentioned that his middle school team lost every game one year). I was really amazed he had taken the time to know who these kids were.
Then the most amazing thing happened. He also spent the next 2-hours joking around with the kids, telling them about being creative, things they can enjoy in life, how art and science are really important, he told them that football was a fun sport, but it was just for fun, and there was so much in life they could enjoy. He said that he played football so he could do the things that he was passionate about, like drawing, cartoons, clothing design, kids’ books, etc... He shared stories with them that were genuine about him growing up and how he struggled as a kid to fit in, how him and his sister and brother were really close and looked out for each other. He told a story about how his sister was the most amazing athlete in their family – and pointed out all the girls in the room that were sisters of the players. He passed a marker around and had people with the marker ask questions, he would answer anything you asked. He talked about how when he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys he was stupid and didn’t take money seriously, but then told the kids that he learned quickly that money was not important for status, but it should be respected. This was 90-minutes into the evening already.
I was shocked because I had promised my contact that he would not have to be with the boys more than 15-minutes. He then took pictures with all the kids, signed all their autographs, arm wrestled with them, and just had fun. He connected with each kid there, asking what position they played, what they liked in school, what they liked to do for fun, etc… He had the room in stitches because he was so funny and entertaining, but mostly one of the most genuine caring and passionate people I have ever met. I started to get really worried at the 2-hour mark and told the kids that he probably should get going. The kids were so pumped up they ran around and played on their own for the next hour or so. When the kids left the room, he looked at the adults in the room (the moms and dads) and said ‘now let’s have adult conversation’ and went on to talk about the ballet and opera and music and clothing and art and his daughter and all the things in life that matter. He probably would have stayed another hour or so as people were having a great time, but I knew that he had a driver outside and I kept worrying that he was going to get stuck in traffic or something on the way home.
When he left I was amazed at the person I had met and how I had looked up to him because he was such an amazing athlete, but now looked up to him for so much more. My son has since then always thought Martellus Bennett is his favorite player in the NFL, and probably is going to become a Patriots fan.
I am sorry to see him go, he is a great man and I know he is going to be successful in anything he does.
Some photos of the event:
https://flic.kr/p/iTfk1a https://flic.kr/p/iTdykF https://flic.kr/p/iTdsYt https://flic.kr/p/iTff4Y
