Michael Bennett: 'We don't have to take a knee. We just have to work in our communities'
One of the NFL’s most prolific anthem protesters seems to have changed his tune a bit when asked about the issue by The Seattle Times.
Current Philadelphia Eagle and former Seattle Seahawk Michael Bennett returned to the Emerald City to speak at a book signing when The Times broached the topic.
Of some note, Bennett was in Seattle to help promote his book “Things That Make White People Uncomfortable.”
Bennett addressed a myriad of topics at the book signing, including how beloved he was in Seattle and the somewhat unceremonious trade from the Seahawks.
“I walk through the city of Seattle and I get love wherever I go,’’ said Bennett, who helped the Seahawks win their first and, so far, only Super Bowl. Bennett played a role on a defense that stifled Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
Despite helping Seattle procure its only Super Bowl championship, Bennett didn’t seem to harbor any ill will toward his former team, though he did express disappointment.
“Me being traded is part of the business,” Bennett said. “But it doesn’t make it any easier.”
Bennett also revealed that he had a good heart-to-heart conversation with Seahawks coach Pete Carroll upon learning of the trade.
Considering Bennett’s prominence as a national anthem protester, it was little surprise that the subject was brought up.
Michael Bennett will keep sitting during anthem and says player/owner dialogue should start w/ employing Kaepernick https://t.co/7A0VBn3ocS pic.twitter.com/Vc9pS5B6L6
— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) October 18, 2017
When asked about President Donald Trump’s comments that NFL players who don’t stand at attention for the national anthem should perhaps leave this country, Bennett stressed that the anthem protests were “never about the flag.”
“It was about every issue you could think about that people were going through,” he said.
Interestingly, Bennett’s comments seemed to confirm that the anthem protests have gotten muddled through oversaturation and that there was no longer an overlying message unifying the protests.
Colin Kaepernick started kneeling in 2016 to protest police brutality. Swathes of NFL players protested in Week 3 of last season to protest Trump’s anti-anthem protester comments. Some NFL players have knelt for various other social justice issues.
But Bennett’s most interesting remarks came when he was asked about the NFL’s new anthem policy requiring players on the sidelines to stand for the anthem, but offering the option to remain in the locker room.
Bennett initially suggested he would have preferred a different policy, but he also seemed to admit that it was time for the protests to change.
“It isn’t so much about the gesture anymore,” the defensive lineman said. “We don’t have to take a knee. We just have to work in our communities.”
Bennett also addressed the reports that players would consider boycotting the entire season due to the new anthem policies with a somewhat surprising response.
“I’m not sure that’s the right answer,” he said.
Bennett also seemed to distance himself from potential protests next season.
“I don’t have any predictions,” he added. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Bennett and the Eagles will be one of the first teams to take the field under the new anthem rules when they open the next NFL season against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 6.
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