Michael grew up in a lower income area and witnessed family and friends struggle with obesity and staying healthy. When he entered the NFL, rigorous performance training taught him the importance of eating nutritiously and how vital it is not only to maintaining fitness, but overall well-being.
The year after he established his first free football camp, Michael attended a round table meeting in Hawaii’s capital. The camp had shown him that there was a need for nutrition education in Hawaii, and he wanted to figure out what could be done. Some people talked about five-year plans, but Michael couldn’t wait that long. Promising to implement something sooner, he quickly organized three cooking demonstrations, a football camp, and the very first OCEAN Health Fest in three months with the help of The Bennett Foundation team.
Michael and his wife, Pele have three daughters, Peyton, Blake, and Ollie. The kids are always willing to assist Michael and Pele with foundation initiatives, including working on things for the website and brainstorming creative ideas for charity events.
Art Eddy: Let’s first talk about the great work you and your family does at The Bennett Foundation. You look to help kids stay healthy. What motivated you to start this up?
Michael Bennett: I think there is a need for people in our position to use our platform to change our community. When we wake up and see things on TV and we wonder how we can make a change. Most people wait for others to make a change. It is time for us to stand up and do what we need to do for our own community.
We started the foundation and wanted to keep implementing different programs and give the kids different opportunities to be able to see that they can be more than just their circumstances. They can have an opportunity to do whatever they want no matter how they are marginalized in America or in their community. There is a lack of education and funding for resources. We want to be that resource and bridge the gap between resources with other people in other companies within the community.
AE: On your foundation’s website there are some articles on nutrition, exercise and other topics. Love all of the things that people can learn on your site. How can parents make sure that they are helping their kids be in the best shape that they can be on a daily basis?
MB: I think for a kid to be healthy he needs his parents to be involved. The parents have to be able to start with the nutrition. Definitely exercise as a family. So many people think when you talk about exercise that you have to go to a gym and run on a treadmill.
There are so many different things that you can do that is exercising. You can play dodgeball or any other type of sport. Or just walking and being able to talk. To be able to create an influence around them and continuously be healthy as a family is something we all must do as a parent. We should challenge ourselves. Do I really want to walk today? I had a long day. At the end of the day you are kind of being selfish to your family when you don’t go outside and participate with them. When they don’t see their parents not participating whether it is food, education or health the kids won’t be involved in it. So it is on us the parents to continuously challenge our kids to break the mold.
AE: Take me back to your first NFL game. What do you remember most about that game?
MB: The most I remember about my first game was being nervous. You think about how you can’t believe I made it this far. Then you realize when you get out there and it is the same game you have been playing for years. We are just getting paid for it. The first game I had butterflies in my stomach. I was trying to not make the game bigger than it was, but it was a big stage to be out there. Actually my first game I sacked Aaron Rodgers.
AE: I spoke with your brother Martellus last year. You both play in the NFL. He is on the offensive side and you are the defensive side for separate teams. Do you guys ever compare notes during each season?
MB: Yeah, we compare notes. My brother is one of my best friends in the whole world. I talk to him about every single day. I’m lucky to be able to have someone who experiences the same life and the same journey as me. To be able to compare notes whether it is on the football field or just about life like parenting or about money or finances.
When it comes to football we do that all the time. We compare notes and are able to talk about things he is seeing in my game or I am talking about his game. In some relationships you can’t give constructive criticism. That is the opposite of us. We can criticize each other and grow from it. At the end of the day we know we want greatness for both of us whether it is on or off the field. So be able to have a companion that can be able to coach you and do all of that stuff is super important.
AE: What popped into your mind when you found out that you were going to be a father for the first time?
MB: I think the first thing that popped into my mind was how and what to do. I think you look at your father and try to mimic what they do. They did it for you, but your experiences and your child’s experiences are so much different. To be a father at such a young age. I was a father when I was 19 years old. It was a very difficult thing to be like man I really got a baby. This is real life.
It has made me become a better man, I think. Having my first daughter really turned me in and really lit a fire under my butt. All of my successes or things that I did wasn’t for me anymore. When you get into a situation where you are not just living for yourself anymore it perpetuates you to do way more things than you can possibly do. You are not just living for you anymore. My flesh isn’t just my flesh anymore. My soul is not just my soul anymore. It is for my family. To express that every single day it constantly pushes me forward to be able to do the things that I do.
AE: What are some of the core values you look to instill into your kids as they grow up?
MB: One of the things that I want to instill into my family and kids how unselfish you can be as a human being? How much can we give back to our community? I also think how I love my wife is important to my family too. If I can teach my kids how to love it is going to be something special.
Forgiveness too. I think a lot of the times in life we never forgive so we never can grow as a person. I am always trying to teach my kids how to forgive. Whether it is with our family or it is with their friends and trying to move on from the past so you won’t get stuck there. That is something that we are always trying to do.
AE: It is easier said than done, but trying to teach your kids how to forgive and move forward is huge. I appreciate you doing that. We need more of that in the world. Those are great teachable moments.
MB: Those moments are the greatest moments to be able to teach your kids how to forgive. Every time you learn how not to forgive you build a little stone around your heart. If you get too much stone around your heart you will never be the same.
AE: How do you balance work and family?
MB: It is hard to do, I think. You get to the point where you meet a lot of great people around the world. What they do and how they influence whether it is through sports, community, government and business. One thing that they all dream of is balance. How can they balance their schedule with their family?
It is a hard thing to do, but you just have to build your core values around what you are willing to give up and not willing to give up as far as being a family man. Am I willing to stay two weeks, one week or two days? Always try to keep your family around you as much as you can when you are doing certain things. That way they can experience life with you.
A lot of the experiences in life I want to reflect on them later in life with my kids. They can be like oh I remember when my dad did that instead of I wasn’t there to remember what his reaction was like when that thing happened. That is the hardest thing to do. It is to find that balance in life especially when it comes to work and family and community. I think if you get your kids involved into all aspects of those things that you are committed to then you can have that balance. I know a lot of people call it counterbalance. A lot of people believe don’t believe that there is balance because you have to put 100 percent into things, but I believe if your time is set right than you can do multiple things with your family and you will be good.
AE: What is the one biggest piece of advice you have for new dads?
MB: I think the new advice I would give to dads is to let your kids be who they want to be and not push them into who you want them to be. I think a lot of the times parents push their kids. I see parents getting their kids Tommy John surgery because they think it will make their kids pitch faster. At the end of the day you have to let your kid evolve into who they are. You have to accept that. You have to let them grow and be who they want to be.
You just have to be along for the ride in their journey to be able to guide them not make harsh decisions. Their character and who they are you have to let them define that. I think parents try to push so much on their kids that the kids don’t get a chance to develop. I see a lot of that in sports. I see young players who have not been able to find their habits. Never find out what kind of food that they like. Everything in their life has been decided for them. When that happens the person that decided everything for you is not there to decide for you and you are left out on your own.
I don’t want that to happen to my kids. I want them to be able to develop who they are as a person and be supportive. I think that is the hardest thing to do as a parent. That is the thing that I am working toward every day.
AE: Yeah. It is hard to find that balance where you want to show them direction, but you also want them to find it by themselves.
MB: Yeah I know it. It is so hard though. It would be like saying you like blue, but you used to like purple. Just let them be. As long as it is nothing that is so bad. You might want them to be a ballerina, but they might not want to be a ballerina. You might want them to be an astronaut, but that is not what they want to be. You can’t make everything you want to be personified in your kids.
AE: Agreed. You can’t live your dreams through your kids.
MB: I think that is the best thing. That is one of the things of having daughters for me is a good thing too. It is not like I can push them towards football.
Life of Dad Quick Five
AE: Do you guys have a favorite family movie that you all love to watch together?
MB: The new Karate Kid with Jaden Smith. My kids love that movie.
AE: Do you guys have a favorite song that you all like to sing to or dance to as a family?
MB: We like to sing to the Isley Brothers Summer Breeze.
AE: Describe the perfect family vacation.
MB: The perfect family vacation would be going to Morocco with my family. To let them see and experience Morocco. To let them fall in love with the city and get lost in it. It would be the perfect family vacation to go there for two weeks.
AE: First thought that went into your mind when you and your teammates won Super Bowl XLVIII was…
MB: The first thought in my mind when I won the first Super Bowl was like is this it? My wife still talks to me about that day. A lot of the times in your life you have this feeling on how something is going to feel to you. It kind of numbs you. I thought it was going to be more euphoric. The greatest thing for me at the Super Bowl was that I felt like I was not always going to be with these guys. I think the guys that I played with were once in a lifetime group.
Those guys that I played with were like brothers to me. Every day that I came to work it was like being with family. That is the thing that I remember the most. I knew a lot of those guys wouldn’t be there anymore. Only two of us came back from the whole D-Line so that is one of the things that I miss the most.
AE: In one word describe the atmosphere at CenturyLink Field.
MB: The atmosphere at CenturyLink Field is electrifying. When you go out there and see the crowd going crazy and see green. You don’t see your jersey out there because everyone out there has Russell Wilson and Richard Sherman jerseys. (Both laugh.) You wish some of those jerseys were your jerseys and you think what would it be like if everyone was wearing number 72? At the end of the day it is just electrifying. You go out there and they call your name.
One of the things that I am going to miss when I retire is the fan base. Of course the checks too. Those are the two things that I am going to miss most when I retire. The fans go to the stadium and to see the stadium shake like that is just amazing. It keeps you going to another level. You appreciate a lot to have a fan base that is so involved into the game.
Follow Michael on Twitter at @mosesbread72 and go to his foundation’s website at thebennettfoundation.org/