Michael Bennett has announced his retirement from the NFL after 11 seasons.
The defensive end was a key part of the Seahawks team that won Super Bowl XLVIII six years ago and was named to three Pro Bowls. The 34-year-old spent last season with the Patriots and Cowboys, his four sacks with the latter taking him to 69.5 for his career.
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"Retiring feels a little like death of self, but I'm looking forward to the rebirth - the opportunity to reimagine my purpose," Bennett wrote in an Instagram post. "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 also spoke with The New Yorker about his decision to step away from football. He said that he was already thinking about retirement, but that spending time at home with his family during the coronavirus pandemic helped him finalize his decision
From The New Yorker:
But it wasn’t until Bennett was sheltering in place with his family that the decision hardened into certainty, and it wasn’t until a few days ago that he decided that he was ready to announce it. The pandemic, by requiring him to focus on the essential aspects of life, was clarifying, Bennett told me late last week: he wanted to be at home with his family. And Bennett, who has long been one of the most prominent and vocal anti-racists in the NFL, also felt that it was the right moment to focus on helping other athletes speak out against injustice. He had been working with an organization, Athletes for Impact, which tries to connect athletes with one another, to provide opportunities to learn about worthy causes and to give them a sense of support. “Not everyone can be a Colin Kaepernick or Maya Moore,” Bennett told me.
Bennett, who went to college at Texas A&M, went undrafted in 2009 and though he made the Seahawks roster that season, he ended the campaign with the Buccaneers. He returned to Seattle in 2013 and led the team in sacks in his first season, which culminated in a 43-8 Super Bowl victory over the Denver Broncos in MetLife Stadium.
Bennett, whose younger brother Martellus played tight end for 10 years in the NFL, spent five seasons with the Seahawks in his second spell in Seattle before joining the Eagles for one year in 2018. His time in New England last season was short-lived following a row with a coach and he was not kept on by the Cowboys following his mid-season trade.