Michael Bennett Jr. (1985–)

Best for: Anyone interested in a compelling story about how a professional athlete lives his values.

In a nutshell: Former (sniff) Seattle Seahawk and current Philadelphia Eagle team member Michael Bennett shares his prospective on a wide range of topics, including the NCAA, the NFL, racism, and sexism.

Line that sticks with me:
“They also tell us to stick to sports when we speak out on issues. But they don’t seem to have a problem when we’re making commercials, selling their kids show more sneakers they can’t afford or fast food that will give them colon cancer.”
“But none of this is new, and we shouldn’t pretend it is. Racists may be more confident now because of who is in the White House, but it’s been there all along.”
“I think their real reason for calling me a liar is their whole worldview is built around the idea that racism in policing doesn’t exist. They would rather live in the comfort of that fiction than be forced to confront the uncomfortable truth: that racial profiling is a reality.”
“I realized that I wouldn’t be the person I aspire to be if I called out injustice here at home and just stopped at our border. It doesn’t work that way.”

Why I chose it: I mean, a former Seahawk writing about things like social justice? Sign me up.

Review:
I grew up loving professional football. I was a 49ers fan, and got to attend many games growing up. However, I didn’t watch a single game in the 2017-2018 season, because of how the league treated Colin Kaepernick. I wrote about my decision here: https://www.hownottobeajerkwhen.com/figuring-out-how-to-live-your-values-nfl-edi....

But living in Seattle, it was impossible to avoid news of the Seahawks, and Michael Bennett (until recently) was a major piece of that team. So when I heard he was writing a book — and with Dave Zirin, whose work I’ve reviewed before (https://cannonballread.com/2014/06/world-cup-fever/) — I knew I had to pick it up. Saw it at the airport before returning to London this week, and I’ve not been able to put it down.

This book has so many insights, it was hard to limit the number of quotes to share above. Mr. Bennett talks openly about how hard college life is for ‘student-athletes’ (who he says would more accurately be called ‘athlete-students’), how the NCAA and universities don’t give a shit about their players. He talks about life in the NFL, and the fear of CTE and how poorly retired players are treated. He shares how important the brotherhood of the Seahawks locker room has been in his growth as a player and a Black man.

He covers many topics I expected him to, like the racism inherent in calling the NFL team owners ‘owners’ when so many of the employees are Black, or Mr. Bennett’s involvement in the anthem protests. In fact, the preface could stand alone as a wonderful essay on the need to stand up (or, in this case, sit down) for what’s right. But he also talks about things like the importance of access to healthful food, or his thoughts on Palestine, or the importance of forgiveness, which I wasn’t expecting.

I think this is a book anyone with an opinion on the role of college or professional athletes should read. I also think this is a good book for anyone who is looking for inspiration to keep fighting injustice.

Note: Mr. Bennett was charged in late March with assaulting someone working security at the Super Bowl in 2017 (a felony, because the person is over 65). I find it hard to believe that the incident went down as suggested in the indictment; I’m especially suspect because of the way the Houston police chief shared it (Google the press conference if you’re interested). Mr. Bennett’s attorney has said: “He just flat-out didn’t do it. It wasn’t a case of, ‘He didn’t shove her that hard,’ or anything like that. … He never touched her.” That said, I wasn’t there, so if that’s something that might affect your interest in picking up this book, I wanted to put it out there. show less

While what constitutes "whiteness" is a matter of debate, and I don't view myself as being "white" (and as a Jew, I'm sure that racists would agree with that), this book ended up making me a bit uncomfortable anyway.

Watching (American) football has always been a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. Well, I suppose I'd say that I didn't find it a GUILTY pleasure until I read "League of Denial" by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru (highly recommended, by the way) and saw just how the NFL (and show more the NCAA) was NOT handling the concussion crisis. And so watching football became a guilty pleasure - one that I still indulged in, but felt a little bad about doing so every time I had a game on the television.

I supported Kaepernick's, among others', protest of the national anthem. Raised by a secular Jew and a liberal Quaker for most of my life, I was already well-acquainted with those who didn't stand for the national anthem or repeat the pledge of allegiance. My grandfather (the Quaker) was a WW2 vet (non-combat role) and never once said the words to the national anthem or the pledge of allegiance. To him, those things weren't about patriotism or being a "real American" or other such nonsense. He pledged his allegiance to humanity and our shared experience, not to one nation in particular. I myself have never said the pledge of allegiance, either; my grandfather made it abundantly clear that before I could say those words, I had to understand what they meant and what exactly I was promising.

Somehow, in the course of national dialogue, what the players who were protesting against got twisted into something unrecognizable. There seemed to be two camps of people who were angry against the protesters: 1) those who said that they were protesting the military (they aren't) or weren't patriotic (wrong) and 2) those who said that black athletes are all spoiled millionaires who don't give a shit anyway and are just stirring up the pot.

Bennett clearly and concisely explains just why he started protesting. I've heard several interviews given by Bennett, and I've always thought him as a well-spoken man, and this translates well into his book (not sure why he needed a co-author, because it sounds quite a bit like Bennett's interviews and public speeches - maybe the co-author helped guide him to various topics? Not sure.). And he isn't afraid to tackle difficult topics - from his childhood, to racism, to concussions, to college football players enduring life-altering injuries all while not being paid (even though they bring in millions every year for their universities), to Kaepernick being "white balled" by the NFL establishment for daring to speak truth, etc. The only subjects that made me uncomfortable were the football-related topics; like I said, I'm having a difficult time reconciling my love for the game with the injuries that players routinely endure for "entertainment." He also draws attention to the power dynamics between "owners" of teams and the players.

Most often, I found myself saying "yes" and "tell it like it is" as Bennett spoke about these subjects. So, like I said, I wasn't particularly uncomfortable reading this book. But I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have any and every football fan who thinks the protests are about the military or patriotism or spoiled millionaire athletes "not just sticking to football" read this book. I guarantee that this book would make THEM uncomfortable. Unfortunately, I don't think many will, simply because they have Breitbart and Trump and Fox News to tell them what to think, so why bother using their brains?

As for me, especially the chapter about the NCAA, I'm conflicted even more about football. I don't think I'll watch the NFL anymore, especially because of the new rule not allowing players to kneel anymore (and Trump's ridiculous injection of himself into this manufactured debate about patriotism and the military, as if a draft dodger and someone who MOCKED a gold star family and a POW [John McCain] has ANY RIGHT AT ALL to comment about patriotism or the military - and seriously FUCK every single supporter of Trump's who gets all pissy about athletes protesting police brutality but don't care about Trump's actions).

I like how Bennett isn't about focusing blame on people; he's all about moving forward, about doing as much good as possible for all people, for seeing that we're all members of the human race and we should start acting like it, damn it.

Highly recommended, especially for football fans - but you don't have to be a football fan to enjoy this book. show less

This book collects essays about the author's life as well as his growing maturity and involvement in various activist causes and charitable endeavors. I am not a sports fan and did not recognize the author's name. I love it when books surprise me like this because I probably never would have engaged with it if I had read the dust jacket. It was very interesting to see the sporting industry examined from a social justice perspective. Normally, these type of memoirs are very celebratory and show more positive about the experience of becoming a professional athlete. Mr. Bennett really opened my eyes to the exploitative nature of the industry and the challenges to an athlete's freedom of expression.

While I wasn't riveted at every moment (as again, I am not a sports fan), I found a lot to consider and think about. Mr. Bennett's philosophy about life and his dedication to his moral code is truly inspiring. show less

I found this book very informative. Mr. Bennett tells his readers about many different subject from his perspective, one not heard from in and around the mainstream media. I thought he did this very well. His viewpoint is different from mine and he challenged me to see some of the issues he talks about from his point of view. I appreciate Mr. Bennett's openness.