Martellus Bennett:"Most of your favorite players aren't good people"

Hawkeye0202

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I know he's not every fan cup of tea but god he nailed some real pointers/eye-openers here.
BTW: Decoding dark places in the article =_____________


https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl...od-people/1qymhptsqkxz914ptju23egqil?fbclid=I

Martellus Bennett reveals ugly side of NFL: 'Most of your favorite players aren’t good people'

Former NFL tight end Martellus Bennett was never afraid to speak his mind, so it's no surprise he's being open and honest in retirement as well.

Bennett sent a number of tweets Tuesday night, posting his thoughts on what it takes to be an NFL athlete, or even just a football player. His thoughts originated with a quote-tweet of a story saying Brandon Marshall (Bennett's former teammate) wanted to fight boxer Deontay Wilder.
 
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HanD

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Maybe he's talking about michael....
 

Haimerej

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That is a very interesting read. Bennett is a very insightful former athlete. Being a professional athlete has its perks but also its deep burdens. Most fans probably have a very skewed view of what it really means to be a professional athlete.

Life has deep burdens for everyone. This reads like a kid graduating school and realizing he should've studied harder.
 

jrumann59

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Life has deep burdens for everyone. This reads like a kid graduating school and realizing he should've studied harder.
Maybe. But he has a point a lot of these kids are taught to reach that pinnacle for various reasons, whether socio-economical, gangs, family, peer pressure etc. A lot have been running the gauntlet for decades focusing on one thing because its their "way out". And when they make it and that career is over many have very little in their life to show for it. I am not saying its not their fault but even in white collar world you see the work-aholics who go in with "noble" intentions and 20 years later everything they did it for is gone.
 

HungryLion

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Life has deep burdens for everyone. This reads like a kid graduating school and realizing he should've studied harder.


I don’t know. I think it’s probably pretty natural for people going through a major
Life transition, to question their decision making and the choices they made along the way. Who amongst us hasn’t wondered how their life would be if they changed some
Of the decisions we made in the past?

I dont think it’s a kid thing to do.

It’s a major transition for somebody when they retire from a career or for players who played a sport for decades, and they no longer can due to age and physical limitation.
 

JoeKing

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Maybe. But he has a point a lot of these kids are taught to reach that pinnacle for various reasons, whether socio-economical, gangs, family, peer pressure etc. A lot have been running the gauntlet for decades focusing on one thing because its their "way out". And when they make it and that career is over many have very little in their life to show for it. I am not saying its not their fault but even in white collar world you see the work-aholics who go in with "noble" intentions and 20 years later everything they did it for is gone.
You've heard the saying, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". Failure to plan is planning to fail.
 

Hawkeye0202

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I think the biggest transition for most players after football is how others have taken care of everything for them and to have that end where suddenly you have to earn your way. Bennett makes an excellent point about players finding out who their true friends are after football. But I'm guessing the smartest players do a good job preparing themselves financially and socially for what they'll face. These players IMO probably would have been fine even w/o football.
 

TwoCentPlain

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Pretty similar to a soldier retiring to a large degree and a typical person retiring. Sudden change can be devastating. Same thing with an actor or musician. Musicians get that awesome high feeling of tens of thousands of people screaming for you, maybe an after party and then go back to a quiet, empty hotel room. They crave that emotional high and turn to alternate ways which lead to destruction.

Change is tough. No place to go but down once you are at the top.

Marilyn Monroe told her husband how exhilarating it was to have thousands of people screaming for her. She asked her husband Joe if he ever experienced such a thing. DiMaggio humbly replied, ‘Yes, I have.’ One handled fame properly, the other disastrously.
 

elcowboi

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I have a friend that was in the NFL and I run into him every once in a while. He's younger than I am but walks like an old man because his knees are so bad. His shoulders, arms, hands and fingers are all arthritic. He has two small kids and I watch him struggle to pick them up sometimes. An interesting point Bennett made about coaches and players not being good people was echoed by my friend. He told me a few stories about some of the players he played with and afterwards I no longer look at them the same way.
 

Lutonio

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Just look at the arrest records and charges for the NFL every off-season. No **** they’re not good people.

I’m a grown man, and my role models are found in other places. Just entertain me playing the game and don’t literally kill each other.
 

jay94

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This just in most people aren't good people, especially the people with power. How many of you know what the FED is? If you don't sorry your indoctrinated fools right out of the park. It's a rigged game from the start.
 

plymkr

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I think the biggest transition for most players after football is how others have taken care of everything for them and to have that end where suddenly you have to earn your way. Bennett makes an excellent point about players finding out who their true friends are after football. But I'm guessing the smartest players do a good job preparing themselves financially and socially for what they'll face. These players IMO probably would have been fine even w/o football.
I agree with everything you said, I also want to add that a major point that he made is how hard it is to make money without football. It is hard to earn a living without football. I've been doing it for decades. I can't imagine going from making millions for part of the year to making thousands for all of the year. That would be a mind screw.
 

cristglo

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I know he's not every fan cup of tea but god he nailed some real pointers/eye-openers here.
BTW: Decoding dark places in the article =_____________


https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl...od-people/1qymhptsqkxz914ptju23egqil?fbclid=I

Martellus Bennett reveals ugly side of NFL: 'Most of your favorite players aren’t good people'

Former NFL tight end Martellus Bennett was never afraid to speak his mind, so it's no surprise he's being open and honest in retirement as well.

Bennett sent a number of tweets Tuesday night, posting his thoughts on what it takes to be an NFL athlete, or even just a football player. His thoughts originated with a quote-tweet of a story saying Brandon Marshall (Bennett's former teammate) wanted to fight boxer Deontay Wilder.

Never ever thought I would say this but he is so Right and He did hit it the nail on the head!!!!
 
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