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

[tunahelper]

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 =_____________

Not to be little MB, but the common man struggles to pick up his child and barely makes ends meet. MB articulates the post-NFL struggles well and I am sure it is difficult for athletes.

The daily life challenges is something we all struggle with and have battled all our lives. Athletes forget about those challenges, due to fame and money. It does not matter where you came from either. MB clearly outlined that fame and fortune causes athletes to forget

In the end, we all face the struggle of life. That is the true lesson. Balance is the key to living well. Brain, body, and God.



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.

 

[Gaede]

Great read. In all my years as a fan, I don't think I've ever heard the post-NFL experience like this. Thought this was particularly insightful:

"It’s a tough balancing act during your career because the trauma is the only thing that pushes you to do it. And the moment you start addressing trauma the foundation that everything you believed in begins to crumble. And you can’t perform on a crumbling foundation."

 

[BigStar]

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

It felt more like he was talking of others more than himself at times there, esp the financial aspect but could easily be wrong, etc.

Bennett is actually very smart, but you can tell he's annoyed he's not as quick as he wants to be due to all the hits to the head over the years. He sees others trying to use their brains again but just don't have the tools or the confidence to let those neurons rebuild and start firing again.

That's not going to be an issue for him seeing how self aware he is of all of these issues (and family in the league)---the not being able to lift your kid sounded personal. The buildup leading to and the work to get to the league sounded personal; feeling less for others and yourself. The guy who failed most of school and then retires from the NFL is in a different ballpark.

 

[Turk]

Nothing new here. Frankly any intelligent person who bothers to think about it would tell you the same.

You have a very specific subset of people. In many respects a nearly Darwinian process of selection for years. Honestly from Junior High on. And yet the whole period is only between a quarter and a third of your average life span.

Most pro football players are done before they are 35. That leaves then about 40 years or so to live life as a normal person for about 99% of them.

We have all heard time and again about those that were foolish with their money; those that never took any education seriously; those that never prepared for life after football.

When you add to that the fact that they have been specially treated since they were 14 or thereabouts the problems become more obvious. Allowed to get away with things others do not; not held accountable all too often for their actions.

When you look at it THAT way it is actually surprising there are not a LOT MORE suicides of players that cannot figure it all out after the game is over.

 

[Turk]

It felt more like he was talking of others more than himself at times there, esp the financial aspect but could easily be wrong, etc.

Bennett is actually very smart, but you can tell he's annoyed he's not as quick as he wants to be due to all the hits to the head over the years. He sees others trying to use their brains again but just don't have the tools or the confidence to let those neurons rebuild and start firing again.

That's not going to be an issue for him seeing how self aware he is of all of these issues (and family in the league)---the not being able to lift your kid sounded personal. The buildup leading to and the work to get to the league sounded personal; feeling less for others and yourself. The guy who failed most of school and then retires from the NFL is in a different ballpark.

The physical demands and deterioration that the NFL requires of its players is one reason its another mark of shame on the union for not making Health Care for all players for life their number one demand.

 

[BigStar]

The physical demands and deterioration that the NFL requires of its players is one reason its another mark of shame on the union for not making Health Care for all players for life their number one demand.

That would be a bill , and like Bennett said would start to pull the rug from the foundation of the sport and likely why they don't want to start that house of cards. You start worrying about the healthcare costs long term, you have to admit the damage that is likely to occur, and that can open a can of worms that no one is interested in yet (even the players and definitely the fans)...we're not ready for that.

I would understand, but I'm not ready either tbh, love my football. It is moving towards boxing unf...in the 80s/90s is when it was the "in thing" to not allow your boys to box due to brain damage, 20 years later it's now football that will likely face the same fate.

 

[Turk]

That would be a bill , and like Bennett said would start to pull the rug from the foundation of the sport and likely why they don't want to start that house of cards. You start worrying about the healthcare costs long term, you have to admit the damage that is likely to occur, and that can open a can of worms that no one is interested in yet (even the players and definitely the fans)...we're not ready for that.

I would understand, but I'm not ready either tbh, love my football. It is moving towards boxing unf...in the 80s/90s is when it was the "in thing" to not allow your boys to box due to brain damage, 20 years later it's now football that will likely face the same fate.

Could be true. But then look how boxing has survived and the fact that it is very dangerous to your brain has been known for decades. That is one reason all this holier than thou claims about the NFL hiding data is such garbage. If you as a doctor could not figure out a long time ago that football is dangerous to the brain then you are worthless. No one wanted to talk about it or address it until they were forced to. Trying to blame the NFL for this is BS.

 

[BigStar]

Could be true. But then look how boxing has survived and the fact that it is very dangerous to your brain has been known for decades. That is one reason all this holier than thou claims about the NFL hiding data is such garbage. If you as a doctor could not figure out a long time ago that football is dangerous to the brain then you are worthless. No one wanted to talk about it or address it until they were forced to. Trying to blame the NFL for this is BS.

Think I got our lines crossed, I agree with you on that. I thought you were saying the NFL was holding out on having a healthcare for all program, and I was more saying I could see why, etc. with the huge costs but also having to acknowledge the "danger" in the sport due to the healthcare costs down the line associated with it. So that was more the can of worms I was referencing, by admitting "it's dangerous but we'll pay for it" might expose them to that CTE stuff in a backwards way.

On the boxing aspect though, that sport is almost dead and why MMA is accepted moreso even being just as dangerous (just not every shot is to the head). It used to be an inner city go-to sport to give kids some discipline/structure but is all but abandoned as a youth sport. Could you imagine asking the standard mom if their 10 year old son can get into boxing, you would think we asked him to sign up for war

I agree with your point though, they shouldn't be on the hook for that as football starts a lot earlier and with a lot more people than those who eventually make it to the NFL...are all the HS/College football players going to want to paid for being "lied to" by the NFL...I could see some outlandish stuff like that though. Ex college players sues NFL for suppressing CTE evidence...huh???

 

[rags747]

Marty B has always been a deep thinker and questioner, many don’t like that. Marty B will be fine in life as he is quite the smart individual.

 

[Howboutdemcowboys31]

I’ve heard in the past people say Julian Edelman is a bad guy and he played with him

 

[McKDaddy]

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.

exactly. the details of a professional athletes transition has its own unique characteristics but at its core its no different than any other person going through a life change. the difference is like he said, they never had to deal with a lot of this and the ones who weren't well grounded don't see it coming.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

Sounds more to me like somebody who's jealous of players who had more success as well as somebody making excuses why he didn't become a HOF or multiple Pro Bowler.

Hey Martellus, maybe football did mess you up, but it doesn't mean it does that to most players. And the vast majority of NFL players are just journeymen, or stick around for only a year or two or three as a backup, etc. They don't have the "I was a superstar but now I'm now how do I get over that" problem.

Lot of anger there it appears to me, hopefully he gets over it, either by time or by some therapy.

I wish him well in the rest of his life...

 

[gjkoeppen]

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.

Gee some of my favorite players over the years are like Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Rod Woodson, Emmitt, Romo, Witten former Walter Payton award winner, now Prescott. They all have outstanding character. I think Bennett is just jealous because nobody thinks he's one of their favorites. He is definitely right that there is some screwed up wiring in his head.
.
.

 

[DogFace]

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.

Football is a particularly hard game. Maybe only boxing is close in terms of physical and mental punishment. As well as some mental punishment brought on by physical contact.

Most of the other sports would be great. IMO. Only the travel would be tiresome. But having 3-5 months or so off a year and plenty of money would make it a pretty sweet deal.

 

[Ranching]

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.

I agree with this! I struggled a bit when I retired four years ago. I remember getting pissed off when people would talk when I was speaking or interupting me. I was so used to walking into a room and everyone would shut up and look at me and wait for me to speak, give them direction or just sit down and hang out. Lol! I still get ticked off when my older brothers speak out of turn!

 

[LACowboysFan1]

exactly. the details of a professional athletes transition has its own unique characteristics but at its core its no different than any other person going through a life change. the difference is like he said, they never had to deal with a lot of this and the ones who weren't well grounded don't see it coming.

While I don't know how long it's been done, all NFL rookies get talked to by financial people, ex-players/coaches, psychologists, etc. about what life after the NFL can or will entail.

You can google "Herm Edwards speaks to the rookies" It's in 3 parts, 15 minutes each. From 2011, 3 years after Bennett got in the league, but like I said, he's only one person, may have been others before him.

Maybe he didn't listen?

 

[ryanbabs]

I've heard this about Witten, Romo and especially Zeke. Dont shoot the messenger.

Well, I’ll once again share my Witten story and my view of him. Back in 2013, me and my family were at Six Flags in Arlington, TX and we had our five year old in the “Looney Tunes Land” so he could ride the kiddy rides. I walked away to go get something and this very tall, slender guy walks past me wearing a strap on backpack, walking behind his pregnant wife and two boys. I caught a glimpse of him and thought to myself “that looked like Jason Witten”. I turned around and screamed “Jason!” To my surprise, he turned around and came up to me and gave me a fist bump and said “how’s it going man”.

It took a while but eventually a small crowd realized who he was. I’ve shared the photos in here once before.

 

[Bullflop]

I saw evidence of what Martellus referred to, even at a high school level.

There's a coldness that often develops in, otherwise, far warmer people.

I can only imagine the cumulative effect on guys into the sport far longer.

 

[OmerV]

I don't think it's any surprise that football can be cutthroat, and there is a lot of anxiety and mixed feelings that go with being a player. And that's probably especially true because it is a profession that doesn't carry any promise of longevity - it can end at any moment.

But at the end of the day it's like most things in life in that some people are more mentally capable of handling those things than others. I get what Bennett is saying, but I also think he wasn't as capable of handling things as some/ He was always pointing fingers and had a chip on his shoulder. I think that's why, despite great physical skills, he was shuffled from team to team, and was out of the game at age 30.

 

[GMO415]

From my 23 years of professional experience, most people aren't good people, let alone NFL players.

Know this, there's some real evil *"$# among us.