The product on the field for the Seattle Seahawks will likely take a big step backwards this year. However, in the absence of Russell Wilson or any realistic hope of winning a playoff game, the team will have a few franchise legends helping to improve their off-the-field product this season.
In addition to fan favorites Michael Bennett and Michael Robinson joining the preseason broadcast team, Seattle says Marshawn Lynch will serve as a “special correspondent” later this season and will produce creative content on a variety of projects.
Seahawks announce broadcast team for their preseason games. Seahawks also announce that later this season, Marshawn Lynch will also act as a special correspondent for the team, where he will produce creative content for a variety of projects. pic.twitter.com/nqcYzSE2S1
Here’s Cliff Avril’s shoutout for the newest member of the defensive line.
Some Seahawks legends have been making themselves available to the team’s draft picks over the last couple days. Seattle’s GOAT left tackle Walter Jones has taken the time to talk with Charles Cross and both Shaun Alexander and Rashaad Penny have welcomed Kenneth Walker III to the squad.
One of the Seahawks’ best pass rushers of all time is welcoming the team’s second-round draft pick, Minnesota EDGE Boye Mafe. Here’s Cliff Avril’s shoutout for the newest member of the defensive line.
.@cliffavril's got a message for our new edge rusher 🗣
The most interesting pro comp we’ve seen for Mafe comes from Doug Farrar at Touchdown Wire, who gave him some very-high praise by likening him to Seahawks legend Michael Bennett.
Truth is, this has been an issue for a while now. This team won’t get back to the heights it saw in the last decade until they have a dominant defensive line again. Today, let’s take a look at the top 12 sack leaders in franchise history.
“That’s a guy I’ve looked up to in the league and a guy I’ve kind of modeled my game after,” Hyder told the media during his Zoom interview on Thursday. “The characteristics were there, that’s who I watched – same body type, that kind of thing. That’s one of the reasons I always kind of pictured myself in Seattle, because I can kind of see myself in that same type of role as Mike.”
Bennett and Hyder share other similarities as well, both hailed from Texas schools and entered the league as undrafted free agents. The two also spent time together on the Cowboys roster.
As for this season, Hyder plans to capitalize on his versatility on the defensive line.
“They want to try to use me the best way they can, whether that’s inside or outside,” he explained. “I’ve always been a defensive lineman who kind of gets in where he fits in, so if they need me inside, I’m scrapping it up inside; if I’ve got to play outside, I’ll play outside. I’m definitely coming in as a defensive end and that’s where I plan spending the majority of my time.”
NFL defensive end Michael Bennett announced his retirement after 11 seasons.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had their fair share of defensive stars over the years, including Hall of Famers like Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks.
This year’s Bucs squad will look to make their own mark as the team has championship aspirations in 2020 with new quarterback Tom Brady under center. At 42, Brady is still chugging along, defying Father Time again and again. The Bucs hope that Brady can continue to perform at a peak level and help deliver the city another Super Bowl trophy.
One former Buccaneer, however, has decided to call it a career, as defensive end Michael Bennett announced his retirement yesterday.
Veteran DE Michael Bennett is retiring after 11 NFL seasons, he announced on Instagram.
Bennett was a three-time Pro Bowl selection with 69.5 career sacks and a Super Bowl ring. pic.twitter.com/DoAmZkr5qE
Bennett was claimed off waivers by the Buccaneers in 2009 after he was cut by the Seattle Seahawks. He played four years with the Bucs, having his best season with them in 2012 when he recorded a then-career high 9.0 sacks. Bennett returned to the Seahawks in 2013, the year they won the Super Bowl.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson congratulated defensive end Michael Bennett on his retirement to a lengthy and stellar career.
Defensive end Michael Bennett made the decision to retire from the NFL and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson congratulated him on his career on Twitter.
Congrats on an AMAZING Career @mosesbread72 !!! Enjoy that beautiful family of yours! 🙏🏾
Bennett compiled five seasons in the Emerald City and was a significant factor in the Seahawks winning Super Bowl XLVIII after he arrived in 2013 via free agency with fellow defensive end Cliff Avril. He compiled 39 sacks and 195 combined tackles (151 solo) in 75 games and 62 starts during his tenure and was one of the most ruthless players on the defensive line.
Bennett was also an outspoken advocate for racial equality during his career. He joined other NFL players in peaceful protests in the form of kneeling while the United States national anthem played before every game and spoke out against police brutality whenever a high-profile case of it surfaced. He was ultimately traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2018 offseason, but he capped off a solid legacy in Seattle and will certainly be remembered as an integral part of the Seahawks’ elite defense in 2013 and 2014.
The retired 34-year-old defensive end will no longer see the field, but Michael Bennett made marks with his play and advocacy, and the memories will linger on.
Former Seahawks DE Michael Bennett, who announced his retirement on Tuesday, is one of the most unique players of his era.
The last time I saw Michael Bennett, the veteran defensive end who announced his retirement on Tuesday, was three years ago at a rally in Seattle for Charleena Lyles, the 30-year-old Black pregnant woman who was fatally shot by two white Seattle police officers on June 18, 2017. 2017 was also Bennett’s final year with the Seahawks, and though it was the offseason, he wanted to be there to make sure his voice was heard.
“Retiring feels a little like death of self, but I’m looking forward to the rebirth – the opportunity to reimagine my purpose,” Bennett said on Instagram in his retirement announcement. “I would like to thank my wife and children, who have sacrificed so much for me to succeed. I’m looking forward to supporting them the same way they have me these past 11 years. I have never been more at peace in my life.
⠀
“As the great Toni Morrison said: ‘Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.’“
Bennett has never shied away from using his platform for social justice, and he did so long before the current wave of NFL players who are making their voices heard as never before. He did so when to do so was essentially to put one’s career at risk, and though he did so at a time when his pressure numbers and security from a career perspective were starting to drop made his stances all the more rare. Even after Colin Kaepernick was blackballed from the league following the 2016 season, Bennett maintained his responsibility to speak out when it was necessary to do so.
In a recent interview with Dave Zirin of The Nation, Bennett talked about the recent uprising in athlete awareness — something he helped to ignite. Did he feel vindicated that the things he had been discussing for so long were now the things to talk about?
“Nah, I don’t feel vindicated,” he said. “I’ve been talking about this since I was a kid. The people before me have talked about it. It’s the history of Emmett Till. It’s the history of lynchings and sundown towns. It’s the amount of racial inequality and the racial disparities in America. The perpetual cycle of being over-policed. The perpetual cycle of race. The perpetual cycle of being held down because of skin color.
“Because these issues keep happening, we have this obligation to our history and our humanity to act. We also must act because of our connection to what’s happening in Palestine, the connection to Indigenous people all around the world. It’s the connection to humanity and the intersectionality that leaves me vindicated, because when you stand on the right side of truth, then you don’t have to worry about darkness, because the light is on those issues. One who stands underneath the light is vindicated, anyway it goes.”
So, that was one Michael Bennett — the hyper-intelligent guy who could recite the history of civil rights violations chapter and verse, and had no issue putting his own name on the line to fight what needed to be fought. One suspects that in retirement, he’ll be even more predisposed to address these concerns.
There are other sides of Michael Bennett to remember. In 2015, when I was working for Sports Illustrated, I asked Bennett if he would sit down and watch tape with me, so I could explain how he was one of the NFL’s best pass-rushers. Bennett said that he would, but only if Cliff Avril, his defensive line bookend in Seattle from 2013 through 2017, could join in and explain his own expertise. Bennett said that he wanted Avril involved because Avril didn’t get enough national attention, and that was the only way the thing was going to happen.
So, we did it that way, and it was great. I came away from the experience more knowledgeable in the intricacies of defensive line play, but also admiring Bennett as a teammate — that he would take an opportunity to talk about his own expertise and make it about his friend as well.
So, there’s the Michael Bennett who has spoken out, and there’s the Michael Bennett who wanted his teammate to get as much attention as he did. There’s also the Michael Bennett who was an absolutely unstoppable force at his peak. At 6-foot-4 and (maybe) 275 pounds, Bennett had a unique ability to not only rush off the edge, but to kick inside and disrupt against guards and centers as well. You see it from guys like J.J. Watt and Aaron Donald, but at his apex, Bennett was just about as much of a problem for opposing offensive lines as anyone else in the NFL.
Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett (72) tackles New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) during the third quarter in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. (Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports)
Before Super Bowl XLIX, which pitted the Seahawks against the Patriots, I spoke with then-New England offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo about how to stop Bennett in particular.
DeGuglielmo paused, sighed, and said plainly, “We don’t know how to block him.” As a Seattle-based writer, I had every idea just how good Bennett was, but even I was a bit gobsmacked when DeGuglielmo then compared Bennett to… Reggie White.
New England’s inability to block Bennett was proven in the game itself, and Bennett showed his versatility to a ridiculous degree. On New England’s first four offensive plays, Bennett lined up at left end, left tackle, right tackle, and right end, and hurried Tom Brady on three of those plays. The fourth play was a run. Bennett had already established himself as one of the league’s best multi-gap pass-rushers, but this was above and beyond. Bennett didn’t have a sack in the game, but he did generate five quarterback hits, a holding penalty, and he changed the entire structure of New England’s passing game—fearful of Bennett’s mad rush to the pocket, they went with quicker drops and more angular routes.
At any time in the NFL, there are a handful of players who can do what Michael Bennett did on that day, and fewer still who could match that kind of on-field disruption with his kind, unselfish manner, and awareness of the privileges and responsibilities his platform gave him.
Bennett is now onto the post-football chapter of his life, but we should remember how well, and in how many ways, he represented himself during his time in the NFL.
Michael Bennett, who announced his retirement on Tuesday, is one of the most unique players of his era.
The last time I saw Michael Bennett, the veteran defensive end who announced his retirement on Tuesday, was three years ago at a rally in Seattle for Charleena Lyles, the 30-year-old Black pregnant woman who was fatally shot by two white Seattle police officers on June 18, 2017. 2017 was also Bennett’s final year with the Seahawks, and though it was the offseason, he wanted to be there to make sure his voice was heard.
“Retiring feels a little like death of self, but I’m looking forward to the rebirth – the opportunity to reimagine my purpose,” Bennett said on Instagram in his retirement announcement. “I would like to thank my wife and children, who have sacrificed so much for me to succeed. I’m looking forward to supporting them the same way they have me these past 11 years. I have never been more at peace in my life.
⠀
“As the great Toni Morrison said: ‘Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.’“
Bennett has never shied away from using his platform for social justice, and he did so long before the current wave of NFL players who are making their voices heard as never before. He did so when to do so was essentially to put one’s career at risk, and though he did so at a time when his pressure numbers and security from a career perspective were starting to drop made his stances all the more rare. Even after Colin Kaepernick was blackballed from the league following the 2016 season, Bennett maintained his responsibility to speak out when it was necessary to do so.
In a recent interview with Dave Zirin of The Nation, Bennett talked about the recent uprising in athlete awareness — something he helped to ignite. Did he feel vindicated that the things he had been discussing for so long were now the things to talk about?
“Nah, I don’t feel vindicated,” he said. “I’ve been talking about this since I was a kid. The people before me have talked about it. It’s the history of Emmett Till. It’s the history of lynchings and sundown towns. It’s the amount of racial inequality and the racial disparities in America. The perpetual cycle of being over-policed. The perpetual cycle of race. The perpetual cycle of being held down because of skin color.
“Because these issues keep happening, we have this obligation to our history and our humanity to act. We also must act because of our connection to what’s happening in Palestine, the connection to Indigenous people all around the world. It’s the connection to humanity and the intersectionality that leaves me vindicated, because when you stand on the right side of truth, then you don’t have to worry about darkness, because the light is on those issues. One who stands underneath the light is vindicated, anyway it goes.”
So, that was one Michael Bennett — the hyper-intelligent guy who could recite the history of civil rights violations chapter and verse, and had no issue putting his own name on the line to fight what needed to be fought. One suspects that in retirement, he’ll be even more predisposed to address these concerns.
There are other sides of Michael Bennett to remember. In 2015, when I was working for Sports Illustrated, I asked Bennett if he would sit down and watch tape with me, so I could explain how he was one of the NFL’s best pass-rushers. Bennett said that he would, but only if Cliff Avril, his defensive line bookend in Seattle from 2013 through 2017, could join in and explain his own expertise. Bennett said that he wanted Avril involved because Avril didn’t get enough national attention, and that was the only way the thing was going to happen.
So, we did it that way, and it was great. I came away from the experience more knowledgeable in the intricacies of defensive line play, but also admiring Bennett as a teammate — that he would take an opportunity to talk about his own expertise and make it about his friend as well.
So, there’s the Michael Bennett who has spoken out, and there’s the Michael Bennett who wanted his teammate to get as much attention as he did. There’s also the Michael Bennett who was an absolutely unstoppable force at his peak. At 6-foot-4 and (maybe) 275 pounds, Bennett had a unique ability to not only rush off the edge, but to kick inside and disrupt against guards and centers as well. You see it from guys like J.J. Watt and Aaron Donald, but at his apex, Bennett was just about as much of a problem for opposing offensive lines as anyone else in the NFL.
Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett (72) tackles New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) during the third quarter in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. (Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports)
Before Super Bowl XLIX, which pitted the Seahawks against the Patriots, I spoke with then-New England offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo about how to stop Bennett in particular.
DeGuglielmo paused, sighed, and said plainly, “We don’t know how to block him.” As a Seattle-based writer, I had every idea just how good Bennett was, but even I was a bit gobsmacked when DeGuglielmo then compared Bennett to… Reggie White.
New England’s inability to block Bennett was proven in the game itself, and Bennett showed his versatility to a ridiculous degree. On New England’s first four offensive plays, Bennett lined up at left end, left tackle, right tackle, and right end, and hurried Tom Brady on three of those plays. The fourth play was a run. Bennett had already established himself as one of the league’s best multi-gap pass-rushers, but this was above and beyond. Bennett didn’t have a sack in the game, but he did generate five quarterback hits, a holding penalty, and he changed the entire structure of New England’s passing game—fearful of Bennett’s mad rush to the pocket, they went with quicker drops and more angular routes.
At any time in the NFL, there are a handful of players who can do what Michael Bennett did on that day, and fewer still who could match that kind of on-field disruption with his kind, unselfish manner, and awareness of the privileges and responsibilities his platform gave him.
Bennett is now onto the post-football chapter of his life, but we should remember how well, and in how many ways, he represented himself during his time in the NFL.
Michael Bennett has decided to walk away from the NFL.
The former New England Patriot announced his retirement on Tuesday. Bennett referenced that he would like to spend time with his family, including his brother, Martellus, who appeared in 18 games with New England over two stints in 2016-17.
In an interview with the New Yorker, Bennett stated that he wants to help athletes fight against social and racial injustices.
According to the writer, Louisa Thomas, Bennett referenced the NFL draft, and how it is “white men who run NFL teams were picking the black men who would play for them.” That was just one instance of the injustices that Bennett sees in the world of sports when it comes to African Americans.
Bennett also took to his Instagram to announce his retirement himself.
The defensive end finished his career with 69.5 sacks, three Pro Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl championship. Now, he starts the next chapter in his journey, which includes a great goal of helping others overcome and change the racial injustices in the world today.
