Martellus Bennett

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Martellus Bennett

Bennett in 2006
Dallas Cowboys — No. 80
Tight end
Date of birth: March 10, 1987 (1987-03-10) (age 21)
Place of birth: Alief, Texas
Height: 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Weight: 259 lb (117 kg)
National Football League debut
2008 for the Dallas Cowboys
Career history
NFL Draft: 2008 / Round: 2 / Pick: 61
 Teams:
Career highlights and awards

Martellus Demond Bennett (born March 10, 1987 in Alief, Texas) is an American football tight end for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He played college football at Texas A&M.

Contents

[edit] Early years

Bennett played football and basketball at Alief Taylor High School in Alief, Texas. He was a three-year starter and two-time All-District and All-Greater Houston selection at tight end. As a sophomore, he averaged 12.4 yards per catch. During his junior year, he grabbed 13 catches for 170 yards and two touchdowns. In his senior year, he caught a team-high of 42 catches 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.[1]

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 originally committed to play for Miami,[2] he chose to sign a National Letter of Intent to play for Texas A&M.[3]

After his senior season, Bennett decided to declare for the 2005 NBA Draft, though did not hire an agent, intending to go to college if he did not get selected in the first round. NBA scouts informed him that it was unlikely he would, causing him to withdraw from the draft a few days prior. As a result, he decided to enroll in classes in the second summer session at Texas A&M.[4]

[edit] College career

In his freshman season, he caught 18 passes for 162 yards and 3 touchdowns, earning freshman All-American honors from Sporting News.[5] In his sophomore season, among 7 others, he was named a semifinalist for the John Mackey Award, given annually to the nation's top tight end, after making 38 catches for 497 yards and 3 touchdowns.[6] On October 28, 2006, he caught a career-high of 133 yards and two touchdowns on five catches against Baylor. He was named the Mackey Award Player of the Week after the game. He finished his sophomore season with All-Big 12 Second Team honors.[7] In his junior season, he made 49 receptions for 587 yards and 4 touchdowns.[8] After his junior 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.[9][10]

In his three seasons at A&M, Bennett caught 105 passes for 1,246 yards and 10 touchdowns. His 105 receptions match a school record of most receptions by a tight end.[11] He only averaged 34.6 yards per game, though many felt that his head coach, Dennis Franchione, who ran a run-oriented offense,[12] did not utilize his talent properly.[9][13] In fact, after his sophomore season, Bennett recorded a rap song called "Throw me the ball coach," and even made a remix of it with his teammates.[14]

Bennett also played basketball for A&M for two seasons under head coach Billy Gillispie,[15] but decided to focus on football in January 2007.[16] In the 2005–06 season—his first—he became the first Texas A&M athlete since 1969 to letter in both basketball and football.[17] He played in 26 games his freshman season,[18] averaging 1.9 points and 1.5 rebounds. In his sophomore season, up until he quit the team, he averaged 0.5 points and 0.5 rebounds.[19]

[edit] Professional career

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. He ranked third in the vertical jump (34 inches) and fifth in the broad jump (9–9).[20] Along with 30 other prospects,[21] he was invited to the Dallas Cowboys' Valley Ranch headquarters for a pre-draft visit on April 17–18, 2008.[22]

A week prior to the draft, an Associated Press sports writer critiqued Bennett's playing abilities as follows: "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."[23]

Bennett was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round (61st overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft.[24] According to Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones, Bennett was selected not because they needed a backup tight end, but to "add a new dimension" to the offense.[25][26]

[edit] Personal

Bennett is friends with former Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett. After Everett's career-ending neck injury in 2007,[27] Bennett chose to honor Everett by wearing his jersey number for two games during his 2007 junior season at Texas A&M.[28]

He is also known for his sense of humor.[29][14][30] As a Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter put it, Bennett "had more memorable quotes than memorable catches at Texas A&M".[25] After being drafted by the Cowboys, Bennett stated, when referring to incumbent quarterback Tony Romo: "Any quarterback that can get Jessica Simpson, I’ve got to play with him". The Cowboys, who had enough with Jessica Simpson/Tony Romo references, called and addressed his comment shortly afterwards.[31] During an interview at the NFL Combine, when asked about his interest in both basketball and football, he responded: "Football is my wife and basketball is my mistress".[32]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Martellus Bennett. AggieAthletics.com.
  2. ^ "Canes steal top recruit from SEC". 
  3. ^ Martellus Bennett - Football Recruiting
  4. ^ "Aggies get boost as top recruit Bennett bails on NBA", CBS Sports, 2005-06-22. 
  5. ^ SportingNews.com - Your expert source for TSN's 2005 Freshman All-American Teams
  6. ^ http://nassausports.org/mackey/2006%20John%20Mackey%20Award%20Semi-Finalists%20-%2011-17-06.pdf
  7. ^ "2006 AT&T All-Big 12 Football Awards Announced". Press release.
  8. ^ #13 Martellus Bennett. ESPN.
  9. ^ a b Texas A&M's Martellus Bennett to enter NFL draft | Sports News | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas
  10. ^ Scout.com: Bennett declares for NFL draft
  11. ^ Texas A&M TE Bennett will skip senior year, enter NFL draft - International Herald Tribune
  12. ^ College stardom doesn't ensure draft selection
  13. ^ Option hard for A&M tight end Bennett | Sports News | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas
  14. ^ a b Texas A&M TE discusses mistress
  15. ^ Martellus Bennett Profile.
  16. ^ Aggies: Martellus has a change of heart; Gillispie to go deeper on his bench
  17. ^ The top prospects
  18. ^ MySA.com: KENS 5: Sports
  19. ^ Texas A&M Aggies Statistics.
  20. ^ Williams, Charean. "TCU's Blake is tested at hospital", Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2008-02-24. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  21. ^ DallasCowboys.com - News
  22. ^ Star-Telegram.com: | 03/27/2008 | Cowboys drop a few draft hints with invitation list
  23. ^ Freeman, Rick. "DRAFT 2008: Profiles of the top players by position", Associated Press, Yahoo! Sports, 2008-04-19. Retrieved on 2008-04-20. 
  24. ^ "Cowboys' picks of Jones, Jenkins unconventional". 
  25. ^ a b "Cowboys make draft moves that have the best fit". 
  26. ^ "OTA Notes & Observations (PART I)". 
  27. ^ Sports Illustrated (2007). Everett's injury 'catastrophic' (English). Sports Illustrated. Retrieved on September 11, 2007.
  28. ^ "Day 1 Combine wrap up [Ryan O'Halloran]". 
  29. ^ "Live chat tonight on VY; More Martellus Bennett". 
  30. ^ "A&M tight ends form a fearsome tandem on the field, an odd couple off". 
  31. ^ "Bennett gets a talking". 
  32. ^ Multiple personalities.

[edit] External links

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Dallas Cowboys 2008 NFL Draft selections