The Seahawks signed Michael Bennett to help improve their pass rush heading into the 2013 season, and the move paid off in a big way, with Bennett leading the team in sacks (8.5), tackles for loss (9) and quarterback hits (26) as part of a historically great defense that led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title.
And over the next five seasons, the Seahawks and their fans came to realize they got a lot more than just an upgraded pass rush when they added Bennett. In Bennett, the Seahawks acquired a disruptive force on defense, but they also added someone who wasn’t afraid to be a disruptor in the real world when addressing far more significant issues than football. Something of a comedian/philosopher/activist, Bennett could crack up a room with jokes about his suggestive sack dance one moment, then just as easily quiet that room by making compelling points about systemic racism.
Dubbed a Renaissance man by former teammate Red Bryant, Bennett was everything from Pro-Bowl pass-rusher to outspoken voice for social justice to children’s book author to doting dad to his three daughters. He was as comfortable talking about the impact of Malcolm X or James Baldwin as he was praising the play of teammate and close friend Cliff Avril. He once explained how he related to the lyrics of Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” a song recorded 21 years before he was born, and he quoted Toni Morrison when he announced his retirement on social media, writing, “Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that free self was another.”
And even in his prime, Bennett recognized that his football career was just a small part of who he was as a person.
“Your longevity in sports is so short, but your legacy is forever,” Bennett said in the summer of 2017 after the second of three consecutive Pro Bowl seasons. “You never know when you're going to get hurt, you never know when you're going to get cut. Your legacy has to be what you do in the community and how much you give back and how you use your platform. That's what I constantly tell young guys, 'Let's push the boundaries, let's find out who we are as people,' because I feel like sometimes as athletes, we've been stuck in a box and confined to what our thought process is supposed to be, so to venture out and be a part of the world is super important"
"I think everything is about more than football. As an athlete, you want to be able to transcend sports. Not just be relevant in your sport, but be relevant in things that matter outside of sports. To be able to talk to kids about life, school, community, health. I want to empower young athletes to use their platform."
But despite being so focused on the big-picture beyond football, Bennett was still a game-wrecking talent between the lines throughout his career. Bennett’s stats and Pro Bowl selections, while impressive, didn’t fully capture how big of a challenge he presented to opposing offenses. Joe Staley, a six-time Pro Bowl tackle for the 49ers, once described Bennett as “probably the top defensive end in the NFL.” And leading up to Super Bowl XLIX, the Patriots top focus on offense wasn’t contending with future All-Decade selections Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman and Bobby Wagner, or hard-hitting safety Kam Chancellor. Their biggest concern was Bennett.
“No. 1, we had to block a fabulous player, Bennett, No. 72,” Patriots director of football research Ernie Adams, considered Bill Belichick’s right-hand man for most of his run in New England, told NFL Films: “Truth is we didn’t really block him all day, Tom (Brady) just did a great job getting rid of the ball.”
Between delivering some of the more memorable quotes, and sack celebrations, in team history, Bennett was a three-time Pro-Bowl selection in Seattle, recording 39 sacks, 69 tackles for loss and 118 quarterback hits in five seasons. Bennett also made, and continues in retirement to make, a big difference in the community, not just in the Seattle area but also his hometown of Houston and in Honolulu where he and his family reside. Bennett was named the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2017, and in retirement he joined forces with Avril and Doug Baldwin to form Champions of Change.
