Cowboys DE Bennett says standing for anthem doesn’t diminish his social justice fight
Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Michael Bennett finally broke his silence on his decision to end his social justice protest during the national anthem one day after Sunday’s 28-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
It was the first time Bennett talked talked at length to media since the bye-week trade to the Cowboys from the New England Patriots three weeks ago.
He has reportedly stood for the anthem during the past two games with the Cowboys because of a pre-trade agreement with owner Jerry Jones. It’s the first time that Bennett has stood for the anthem since 2016.
He sat during the anthem in 2017 when he was with the Seattle Seahawks in protest of inequality and police brutality. He stayed in the locker room during the anthem last season with the Philadelphia Eagles and through the first six games in 2019 with New England prior to the trade to the Cowboys.
But Bennett told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that his decision to stand is a result of him adhering to the wishes of his new Cowboys teammates, who asked him to come on the field with them, rather than a brokered deal with Jones. And yes, he heard the criticisms of people who are now trying to question him and his motives.
“I feel at this point in my career if my teammates asked me to do something and I can do it,” Bennett said. “I know people want make it what it what they want to. I don’t know what to tell them.”
Bennett has done too much for this decision to take away from his protests against social justice and his fight for equality for people of color.
Bennett published a book in 2018 titled “Things That Make White People Uncomfortable.” He discusses racism and police violence, black athletes and their relationship to powerful institutions like the NCAA and the NFL, the role of protest in history, and the responsibilities of athletes as role models to speak out against injustice.
He is also in discussions with the NFL about teaching a class on racism at an Ivy League school. So standing for the anthem won’t change his activism.
“This is doesn’t take away what I have done ... and the stances that I took, the death threats I have had on my life. I have done it all,” Bennett said. “I don’t think it makes me less of a person or makes them less of people. At the end of the day, people get caught into certain things and don’t get caught up into what people are doing to change society. We all are men. We are all trying to figure it out. None of us are finished products when it comes to society.
“I am a black man,” Bennett continued. “I have always said that. I have always stood on what I have believed in every single situation whether it’s with Donald Trump, whether it was with the police, whether it was with police brutality, how women of color have been treated, how much money I have donated to different things, the causes I have stood up with, the people I have stood with. It doesn’t make me less of a person.”
Bennett said his main focus in Dallas is fitting in with his third team in three years and being a good teammate.
Bennett has recorded five tackles, a sack and six quarterback hits in two games since joining the Cowboys in what is a nine-game rental.
The Cowboys took a year off of his contract following the trade and he will be a free agent after the season, if he doesn’t retire.
Bennett, 33, said he doesn’t know what the future holds and plans to enjoy this season with the Cowboys as if it was his last.
“It could be my last year in the NFL. I have been thinking about what is the best thing for my family, what is the best thing health-wise for the future,” he said. “I am just taking it one game at a time, one year at a time
“Right now I am just enjoying this game, enjoying these seven games, enjoying myself and trying to be a kid out there again. I am an old man right now. I am just trying to stay as young as I can.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 4:11 PM.
