I guess the Seattle Seahawks are going with the no proof — no foul narrative?
On Saturday afternoon, Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett called out Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and others over their lack of involvement in social issues that are plaguing this country.
“Our great players are sitting back just taking the dollars, whether it’s Cam Newton, all these guys.”
I guess feeling like Bennett couldn’t criticize one high-paid black quarterback, without checking his own rich signal caller — Russell Wilson — Seahawks brass acted as if the some of the omments weren’t made, scrubbing them from existence.
The comments below are what Seahawks brass actually allowed out:
the league’s “great players” who are “just sitting back, taking the dollars.”
The reference to Cam was also scrubbed or removed out of the video of the Bennett press conference posted on the team’s official website.
Per Pro Football Talk — here are more of Bennett’s actual comments in full:
“Whether it’s Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers, all of these guys, they don’t have to deal with the things that we deal with as black players so it’s not as many. In the NBA everybody is standing up for it, so the greatest players are in the forefront of movement, in the NFL, the greatest players aren’t in the forefront of the movement. Whether it’s the CBA, whether it’s things going on with trying to change the way – concussions. The greatest players are involved, like LeBron James, Chris Paul and all these guys. Our great players are just sitting back, taking the dollars, whether it’s Cam Newton, all these guys. They’re not really on the forefront of trying to change what’s going on.”
The Seahawks risked getting the league and their own organization in hot water — just to appease Wilson it seems — without checking to even see if he was offended.
We’ll wait to see how Wilson and Bennett get along in the Seahawks locker room — but ESPN.com is reporting that Bennett has already reached out to Newton via phone call to discuss the jab.