Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett recently claimed that being an NFL player is similar to being like famous slave Dred Scott.
Bennett addressed the media late Wednesday, and said some truly head-scratching things about slavery.
The Seattle Times reported the following:
Bennett said a comment by Dallas owner Jerry Jones that he would not let anyone who sits for the anthem take the field “is crazy. And I just think it’s inconsiderate.’’
Bennett went on to compare it to Dred Scott, a reference to the famous 1857 court case in which Scott, a slave, sued unsuccessfully for his freedom, a decision that has been credited with setting in motion events that led to the Civil War.
“I just thought it (Jones’ comments) reminded me of the Dred Scott case,’’ Bennett said. “You are property, so you don’t have the ability to be a person first. And I think in this generation I think that sends the wrong message to young kids and young people all across the world that your employer doesn’t see you as a human being, they see you as a piece of property. And if that’s the case, then I don’t get it. I just don’t get why you don’t see him as a human being, they don’t see us as human beings first.’’
Making millions of dollars to play a sport is a level of oppression and horror slaves could never possibly have imagined. Bennett has made more than $45 million through his NFL career so far, and his salary for this season alone is more than $15 million. That means he’ll make more money in a week when that money gets divided up over the NFL season than most people make in a decade. Against, imagine the horror people in the early 1800s would have had if they knew the kind of oppressive life Bennett was living.
I’m not sure anybody told Bennett, but slaves just weren’t allowed to leave the plantations for a different job. That’s not how that worked at all. Escaped slaves were hunted down and returned or killed. Bennett has the freedom to leave the NFL and his millions whenever he feels like it. That’s called freedom.
I guess we shouldn’t be overly surprised with his comments, considering the fact this is the same guy who claimed he was racially profiled by the Las Vegas police officers. It was later proven that the police handled the situation, a fake casino shooting, with extreme professionalism.
Bennett should think a little harder before shooting his mouth off.
