Patriots: Martellus Bennett’s Letter is Mandatory Reading

New Patriots’ Tight End Martellus Bennett Takes to Players Tribune to Inspire

This isn’t about football. Where many athletes are content use to their platform as just a means to personal ends, Martelllus Bennett understands that those who choose maintain neutrality during a time of crisis are anything but neutral. Over the past 48 hours, many professional athletes, including Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and Cleveland Cavaliers forward Lebron James, have taken to social media to address the wave of violence against minorities in this country.

Perhaps no post was as powerful as newly acquired New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett. Bennett is a contributing writer to ‘the Players Tribune,’ an online newspaper that allows athletes to write posts directly to fans. The newspaper, founded by former New York Yankees’ shortstop Derek Jeter, has been an incredible platform for connecting players with fans on a level more deep than the average interview.

In Bennett’s post, entitled “Dear Black Boy,” Bennett talks about what it means to grow up Black and objectified in modern America.

"“We must lace up our shoes to do more than run another sprint, dunk another ball, catch another pass or rap another lyric… Exercise your right to speak your mind, to pursue happiness, to seek peace and prosperity, to avoid conformity imposed by the small minds of society.”"

It is hard not to feel brokenhearted when the heroes of our society are made to feel like second class citizens threatened by persecution and injustice. Our nation is entering a new, modern civil rights movement. When people like Martellus Bennett call attention to the need for racial progress, it helps to educate different parts of the population that might have otherwise been oblivious or unaware.

There will be fans who are outraged with Bennett’s post; these are the same ‘fans’ who claim that an athletes job is not to comment on anything but their sport. However, this is the profession that tests the human condition and strength of will more than any other; I would imagine athletes actually understand what it means to be regularly accosted more so than any other group. Not to mention, Black athletes are consummately the target of hate speech (just check the vile, NSFW comments under Kevin Durant’s post about the Black Lives Matter movement on his twitter); they have every right to speak up and speak out.

Unfortunately, many people do not understand that the same athletes who wear our team’s uniforms are normal people the other 20 hours of the day that they aren’t competing. Sports can help to give context to many people who fail to understand exactly what is taking place. It is important to remember that for each Jackie Robinson, there have been 100 more like him who were so tormented and beleaguered that they never had the opportunity to reach their God-given potential.

Posts like Bennett’s show that knowledge and empathy are what is needed to help call people to service, not a helmet or stands of screaming fans. When professional athletes use their platforms to relay positive messages to fans whom they know are leaning on their every word, it is hard not to be inspired by their leadership and depth of understanding.

At the very least, sports help to give people hope: I know I could use exactly that right now.

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