Sunday’s game between the Bears and Seahawks includes a story line that has been lost in all of the talk about Kam Chancellor returning and the Seahawks needing a win and the Bears not having Jay Cutler and it not mattering because they aren’t very good anyway.
Martellus Bennett will be squaring off against Michael Bennett, literally at times. One brother plays tight end for the Bears, the other plays defensive end for the Seahawks.
Martellus told reporters on Wednesday that he’s not looking forward to having to block his large big brother.
“Honestly, I don’t look forward to playing against Michael,” Martellus said. “We’ve never been two of those brothers that are super competitive against each other. We’ve always been on the same team. So I kind of dread lining up against him, but it’s just one of those things that we have to do. I’m not ramping it up like, ‘Oh, I’m going to kick your ass,’ or ‘You’re going to kick my ass,’ it’s more like I’m just always hoping my brother plays well and just hope for the best for him and the same thing. I’m pretty sure we’re going to end up lining up against each other a couple times, so it’s going to be kind of weird because it’s never been our thing.”
The lack of desire to beat each other resulted in coaches at Texas A&M ensuring they wouldn’t have to go against each other in practice in order to “get better reps out of us.”
Apart from not having a natural sibling rivalry, Martellus Bennett knows it’s not easy to block Michael.
“I mean, you watch the tape,” Martellus said. “I consider Michael a hand grenade, he just blows everything up on every single play, and you can just see the passion and the fire that he plays with. He’s a hell of a player and I’m very proud of his effort and the way that he plays. When you put up tape in the team room and you see your brother playing well, you just kind of smile, and when coaches and everybody talk about how good of a player he is, it just makes you proud. So I’m super proud of him and the way he plays. Anybody trying to block him, it’s just going to be a rough day because that’s just the type of player he is.”
Both of the Bennetts are on the unusual side, with family members consistently telling them they’re crazy. Martellus doesn’t see it that way: “Everybody tells us we’re the crazy ones, but like Steve Jobs said, the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that usually do.”
Then again, Martellus isn’t so sure that he and Michael are crazy.
“I just think we’re two of the most normal people in the NFL, I think everybody else are the weird ones,” Martellus said.
They’re definitely not weird. They’re authentic and interesting and part of what makes the sport fun to follow. Too many players and coaches say what they think they’re supposed to say and do what they think they’re supposed to do. It’s refreshing when guys act and talk like who they really are.
And it really is kind of weird when players and coaches pretend to be someone they aren’t.
