Background and career
Martellus Demond Bennett (born March 10, 1987) is an American children's author and former professional football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. Bennett played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies, receiving second-team All-Big 12 in 2006. He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft. Bennett was a member of five teams during his career, most notably the Chicago Bears, where he earned Pro Bowl honors, and the New England Patriots, where he won Super Bowl LI. After retiring, Bennett became a children's author and published books under his publication company The Imagination Agency. He is the younger brother of former defensive end Michael Bennett.
Martellus Bennett played football and basketball at Alief Taylor High School in Houston, Texas. He was a three-year starter and two-time All-District and All-Greater Houston selection at tight end. As a sophomore, Bennett averaged 12.4 yards per catch. As a junior, he caught 13 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns. As a senior, Bennett had a team-high of 42 receptions for 487 yards and six touchdowns, earning first-team Class 5A all-state honors from the Texas Sports Writers Association. He also averaged 23 points and 8.2 rebounds per game as a senior in basketball. Bennett played in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. As a college football prospect in his senior year of high school, Bennett was a five-star recruit, ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 1 tight end and No. 8 best player in the 2005 prospect class. He was recruited by Texas A&M, Duke, Kansas, LSU, Miami, Oklahoma, and Texas. Although Bennett originally committed to play for Miami, he chose to sign a National Letter of Intent to play for Texas A&M. Bennett also had interest in playing professional basketball, so he decided to declare for the 2005 NBA draft after his senior season. Bennett did not hire an agent though, intending to go to college if he was not selected in the first round. NBA scouts informed Bennett that it was unlikely he would, causing him to withdraw from the draft a few days prior. As a result, Bennett decided to enroll in classes in the second summer session at Texas A&M.
As a freshman at Texas A&M University, Bennett caught 18 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns. As a sophomore, Bennett was named one of eight semifinalists for the John Mackey Award, given annually to the nation's top tight end, after making 38 catches for 497 yards and three touchdowns. On October 28, 2006, he caught a career-high of 133 yards and two touchdowns on five catches against Baylor. Bennett was named the Mackey Award Player of the Week after the game. He finished the season with All-Big 12 Second-team honors. As a junior, Bennett had 49 receptions for 587 yards and four touchdowns. After the season, an NFL committee indicated to Bennett that he would be a first or second-round pick in the NFL draft, so Bennett decided to skip his senior season and declare early for the draft. In his three seasons at Texas A&M University, Bennett caught 105 passes for 1,246 yards and 10 touchdowns. His 105 receptions equal the school record of most receptions by a tight end. Bennett only averaged 34.6 yards per game, though many felt that his head coach, Dennis Franchione, who ran a run-oriented offense, did not properly use his talent. After his sophomore season, Bennett recorded a rap song called "Throw Me The Ball, Coach," and made a remix with his teammates. He played with his brother, Michael, at Texas A&M from 2006 to 2008. Bennett also played basketball for Texas A&M for two seasons under head coach Billy Gillispie, but decided to focus on football in January 2007. In the 2005–06 season, his first, Bennett became the first Texas A&M athlete since 1969 to letter in both basketball and football. He played in 26 games his freshman season, averaging 1.9 points and 1.5 rebounds. As a sophomore, before choosing football, Bennett averaged 0.5 points and 0.5 rebounds.
At the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine, Bennett finished the 40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds, ranking seventh out of the eight tight ends in his group. Bennett ranked third in the vertical jump (34 inches) and fifth in the broad jump (9–9). Along with 30 other prospects, he was invited to the Dallas Cowboys' Valley Ranch headquarters for a predraft visit on April 17–18, 2008. A week prior to the draft, an Associated Press sportswriter critiqued Bennett's playing abilities as: "Played basketball for the Aggies as well, and has the athletic ability to be a nice red-zone target. Lack of speed means he's not a deep threat, but once he improves his routes, his strength and size should make him an asset. Needs to improve zone recognition, too. Good, aggressive blocker."
After trading former second-round draft choice Anthony Fasano, the Cowboys selected Bennett in the second round (61st overall) of the 2008 NFL draft. According to Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones, Bennett was selected not because they needed a backup tight end, but to "add a new dimension" by being part of a two-tight-end offense. In the 2008 preseason, Bennett learned technique from tight end Jason Witten. During the preseason camps, the documentary series Hard Knocks initially portrayed Martellus as a lazy and unmotivated player. Although Bennett was initially having trouble learning the Cowboys' offense, he worked hard to improve, as later episodes of Hard Knocks showed. Bennett agreed to a four-year contract with the team on July 24. He was given the number-two tight end position over Tony Curtis. In Week 7 against the St. Louis Rams, Bennett recorded his first career touchdown on a 34-yard pass from Brad Johnson. Bennett finished his rookie season with 20 receptions for 283 yards and four touchdowns in 16 games and seven starts.
Before the start of his second season, the Cincinnati Bengals offered a trade package for Bennett, but the Cowboys declined. In 2009, Bennett regressed as a receiver, compiling only 15 receptions for 159 yards in 14 games and six starts.
