Martellus Bennett joined the national conversation on Twitter on the topics of systemic racism and racial justice amid the George Floyd protests.
The former New England Patriots tight end offered his perspective on Drew Brees and the death of Floyd. And Bennett peeled back the curtain on racism in the NFL. Bennett has never been afraid to voice his opinion, and his thoughts on Wednesday were important and powerful.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday, Brees said he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag.”
“And is everything right with our country right now? No, it’s not,” Brees said in the interview. “We still have a long way to go. But I think what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart, is it shows unity. It shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better, and that we are all part of the solution.”
Brees later apologized for the remarks on Instagram after his teammates and NFL players around the league reminded him that protests are not about the flag or the military — but rather about standing against racial injustice.
Bennett put together a tremendous Twitter thread with reflections which followed Brees’ comments.
Tell me one white QB that truly stands for something other than their captain America images….
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) June 4, 2020
And y’all wanna applaud them for these statements, when y’all crucified every athlete that said something by protesting in the beginning. Locking arms was always stupid. There was no risk in locking arms. It was no diff from these corporate BLM statement.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) June 4, 2020
Funny thing is that if the white guys I showered with, slept next to, shitted next to, counted on etc etc would never speak up for me how could I ever expect the white folks I never spent any time with at all to do so.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) June 4, 2020
And fangio saying that there’s no racism in the league is like sitting on an elephant and telling me it’s a horse.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) June 4, 2020
The nfl is racist. The main reason they don’t have black coaches is because of racism not because they aren’t “qualified”. You already know how the white owners who hire coaches feel about black players. It’s the same way they feel about black coaches.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) June 4, 2020
You can tell me joe judge is more primed and ready to lead a team to championship than eric bieniemy.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) June 4, 2020
Black QB have to do every fucking thing right, baker mayfield and his white privilege allows him to do whatever he wants. “This kid has so much swagger” no the fuck he doesn’t. If a black QB did any of that and lost the narrative wouldn’t be swagger it be unfocused, not serious.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) June 4, 2020
Let’s not being ignorant. You have a HOF QB in Drew talking about protesting the military when taking a knee. It’s been forever long how the fuck do you still not know what your black “brothers” are fighting for?
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) June 4, 2020
Because spreading the false narrative of protesting the military and shit is exactly what you are doing. Get informed. Read a fucking book.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) June 4, 2020
Protect these black boys when you allow them the play these sports. The coaches, owners, leaders at all levels will brainwash them to believe that it’s all they need to be and focus on. When you sign those waivers you’re signing over their identities.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) June 4, 2020
Because the way it is set up throughout the entire system is that the only place they truly have in the league is as a player. The forever jobs in the league are dominated by white people starting with the QB position. Because of racism just look at how they talked about Lamar
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) June 4, 2020
Adding to his statements later in the day, Bennett certainly made his feelings clear. It will be interesting to see if he adds any further comments on this issue, as some of football’s biggest stars continue to speak out.
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