Family cheers on Martellus Bennett as he aims to snag Super Bowl win
Two of the most outspoken players in football will be at Super Bowl 51 in Houston this weekend, doing very different things. Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett and New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett are brothers. They’re also best friends, and soon they might share another bond.
Michael Bennett won a Super Bowl championship ring in 2014. This year, he’ll be cheering on his brother Martellus, who’s chasing his first championship.
“This is homecoming. As a family, we’re just trying to absorb every minute of it,” said their mother, Penny.
“Are they destroying the house? Is he destroying the house?” Glor asked about her older son, Michael, who was sitting beside her.
“All the time,” Penny said. “Every time he comes home.”
The Bennett-and-Bennett two-ring circus has arrived in Houston, the family’s hometown. It’s where the brothers’ skills on the high school field led each of them to Texas A&M University and then to the NFL.
Michael won a Super Bowl victory with the Seahawks in 2014. Martellus, 16 months his junior, will try to get his as a Patriot.
They’re two of the most brutally honest men in sports trying to complete the family quest.
“Is it funny or frustrating for you to watch sometimes what the reactions are to these guys?” Glor asked heir father, Michael Bennett Sr.
“When they were in college, it really bothered me because I feel like they never got in any trouble with the law, they never hit women, they’re just good guys who are just having fun. I think people look at them sometimes and just take everything the wrong way. It used to bother me a lot more; now I just kind of...” Bennett replied, shaking his head.
“It doesn’t bother me at all!” said Michael Bennett Jr.
“I’m sure it doesn’t,” Glor said, laughing.
“Every day I wake up I look at the ocean, so I’m like, ‘Nothing bothers me these days,’” Michael added.
That’s in part because he just signed a contract extension worth more than $30 million dollars.
At the NFL Opening Night event Monday, kicking off Super Bowl week, we watched Martellus, an impending free agent, hold court on the floor, even though he was not given a prime podium spot because, he said, he’s “nomadic.”
“You’re nomadic; is the whole family nomadic?” Glor asked.
“Yeah, we’re a bit of globetrotters,” Martellus said.
“All over the place?” Glor asked.
“Mentally,” Martellus said.
Mental mistakes — though that’s probably not what they’d call them — have cost both big in fines. For Michael, it’s usually for his suggestive sack dance, which he brought back at Sunday’s Pro Bowl.
“You took the dance off the table for a while because it was costing you too much money,” Glor said.
“Cost me about $7,000 every time,” Michael said.
“Seventy thousand?” Glor asked.
“No, seven,” Michael said.
“That’s still a lot,” Glor noted.
“Well I got most of it back. I’m the only person who wins against the NFL,” Michael said.
“What does that mean?” Glor asked.
“Like you know, we have our hearings for like, whether you did it or you’re guilty or not guilty. And I usually talk myself into not being guilty,” Michael said.
“Did you tell him to get a different dance?” Glor asked their father.
“I told him to do two pumps,” Michael Bennett Sr. said.
“Because three is too many?” Glor asked, laughing.
“Three can get you fined,” he replied.
The Bennett brothers’ dad is trying to temper family nerves this week with family fun.
“I think Martellus is ready for the moment. I think he was a little nervous in that first game,” Michael Bennett Sr. said.
“He was nervous? I don’t think of Martellus as a nervous guy,” Glor said.
“He was a little nervous in the first game. You know, I’ve been watching them play football since they were 5 years old. I can tell when the ball is coming to Martellus. I usually tell my wife, ‘It’s a pass for Martellus.’”
Both brothers are convinced they can see the football future.
“Martellus was the number one basketball player, the number one football player in Houston, plus Texas. He was a top pick out of Texas,” Michael Jr. said. “It only makes sense for him to bring the championship back to Houston.”
“You’ve been at the end of a win and a loss in these games,” Glor said. “You’ve considered the possibility that he might not... ”
“I don’t consider the possibility of him not winning,” Michael Bennett Jr. said.. “My mindset is that he’s going to be a champion. I already bought 100 bottles of champagne.”
