Getty Image / Al Pereira
Michael Bennett has been in the news quite a lot over the past few years, but not necessarily for his play on the field.
Bennet joined the movement around the NFL that saw players kneel during the National Anthem ahead of games. He did this during his time with Seattle in 2016 and continued to kneel, and eventually just stay in the locker room during the Anthem, after being traded to Philadelphia and eventually New England back in March of this year.
Him kneeling or not being on the field during the National Anthem has been a constant since the 2016 season, but that pattern has changed since he was traded to Dallas on Oct. 24th. The 33-year-old stood on the sideline with his teammates prior to his first game with the Cowboys and has been on the sideline since.
The question here is what changed Bennett’s mind to do so. He told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram it was a discussion with his new teammates, not a rumored Jerry Jones discussion, that changed his mind.
“I feel at this point in my career, if my teammates asked me to do something and I can do it. I know people want make it what it what they want to. I don’t know what to tell them.”
It’s an interesting statement to make as it sounds like all it took were a few of his teammates to suggest he stand for the National Anthem was the only thing needed to change his mind. This could then raise the question of why Dallas was the spot to stand when plenty of his teammates on previous teams were standing together as well.
Bennett was also in another major news story back in February of 2018. He told the media that he was a victim of racism during an event in a Las Vegas casino when an active shooter was reported. He explained that the officers didn’t act lawfully and his race had something to do with that, but after the video was released it was clear he was trying to flee the potential crime scene and didn’t obey the officer’s orders.
The police later released the video footage of the incident which showed the three police officers, one black and two Hispanic, treating Bennet with respect while doing their jobs.