Marty B: 'I Hated Cowboys Teammate Jason Witten'
By Mike Fisher
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OXNARD (105.3 The Fan) - "I hated Jason Witten. I appreciated his game, but I always hated him." –Martellus Bennett to ESPN.
This is probably not the way for "Marty B'' to endear himself to Cowboys Nation, to smart football fans or to people who respect Dallas icon Jason Witten (which is pretty much everybody). But it is a way for Marty B to market himself via an expansive and entertaining ESPN story, and Bennett — the former Cowboys tight end who was never able to get ahead of Witten or, apparently, to get along with Witten — is nothing if not "expansive and entertaining.''
Some of Bennett's failure in Dallas is the Cowboys' fault. They have for years envisioned themselves as a two-tight end-package offense, but Witten and Dan Campbell, Witten and Anthony Fasano, Witten and Bennett, Witten and Gavin Escobar… it's never quite worked out the way it might now, in New England, for Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett.
Marty B spent four seasons with the Cowboys, totaling just 85 receptions. Maybe he's a goofball, maybe he was poorly-coached, maybe he simply needed a change of scenery (though he's had a lot of "change of sceneries' since departing Dallas). Or maybe he's just a goofball.
Witten's reputation as a teammate and as a member of his community is pristine. He's a Hall-of-Fame player. Maybe Bennett resents that, or maybe he resents to this day that when in doubt, quarterback Tony Romo threw the ball to his reliable pal Witten rather than the erratic Bennett.
Or maybe "Marty B'' knows that the best way to get attention — especially if you're not a Hall-of-Famer — is to say controversial things about players who are Hall-of-Famers.
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