Chicago Bears

Bears' Bennett: Current events are 'way more important' than football

Published Dec. 4, 2015 10:27 a.m. ET

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Things haven't been great for Chicago Bears tight end Martellus Bennett lately. He hasn't been as productive this season as he has been in the past, and talk of a rift with the team has risen after the 273-pound pass-catcher missed the game against the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving.

When asked about his quiet stretch -- both on the field and in the media -- Bennett pinned it on current events. He said what's going on locally and around the world are "way more important" than talking about football, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune:

I just think there is a lot of (stuff) going on in the world that is more important than me talking about football. I'm not trying to contribute to the distractions when the real current events are going on. I just feel like there is no reason to be another distraction with the things that are going on in Chicago with the police and the killings and you know the bombings across the world and all that stuff, it's way more important than me sitting right here talking about football.

So I just feel like there is just no reason for me to talk. People's attention should be focused on what is really going on in the world.

There are a lot of situations going on. I just wish everybody would educate themselves on the things that are going on in the world and figure out ways we can make a difference, you know, like Gandhi said, 'Be the change that you wish to see in the world.'

Bennett's concern is legitimate, but the Bears have to wonder if he has lost his focus from a football standpoint. The team needs everyone onboard, and it helps to have a unified message. The Bennett brothers, Martellus and Seattle's Michael, have always been outspoken free-thinkers and this comment about current events is a perfect example of that type of behavior.

Although Bennett's heart seems to be in the right place, the Bears may need him to shelve his feelings on Sundays.

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