Martellus Bennett

Martellus Demond Bennett (born March 10, 1987) is an American former football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons.

He played in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

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, he chose to sign a National Letter of Intent to play for Texas A&M.

Bennett also had interest in playing professional basketball.

So, after his senior season Bennett decided to declare for the 2005 NBA draft.

He did not hire an agent though, intending to go to college if he was not 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.

In his freshman season at Texas A&M University, he caught 18 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns.

In his sophomore season, he was named one of eight semifinalists for the John Mackey Award, given annually to the nation's top tight end, after making 38 catches for 497 yards and three touchdowns.

In the 2005–06 season, his first, he became the first Texas A&M athlete since 1969 to letter in both basketball and football.

He played in 26 games his freshman season, averaging 1.9 points and 1.5 rebounds.

In his sophomore season, before choosing football, he averaged 0.5 points and 0.5 rebounds.

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.

In his junior season, he made 49 receptions for 587 yards and four touchdowns.

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 for the draft.

In his three seasons at Texas A&M University, Bennett caught 105 passes for 1,246 yards and 10 touchdowns.

His 105 receptions equal the school record of most receptions by a tight end.

He only averaged 34.6 yards per game, though many felt that his head coach, Dennis Franchione, who ran a run-oriented offense, did not properly use his talent.

After his sophomore season, Bennett recorded a rap song called "Throw Me The Ball, Coach," and made a remix with his teammates.

He played with his brother, Michael Bennett, at Texas A&M from 2006–2008.

Bennett also played basketball for Texas A&M for two seasons under head coach Billy Gillispie, but decided to focus on football in January 2007.

He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies football and was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft.

Bennett was a member of five teams during his career, most notably the Chicago Bears, with whom he earned Pro Bowl honors, and the New England Patriots, with whom he won Super Bowl LI.

After retiring, Bennett became a children's author and published books under his publication company The Imagination Agency.

He is the younger brother of former defensive end Michael Bennett.

Martellus Bennett played football and basketball at Alief Taylor High School in Houston, 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.

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).

Along with 30 other prospects, he was invited to the Dallas Cowboys' Valley Ranch headquarters for a predraft visit on April 17–18, 2008.

A week prior to the draft, an Associated Press sportswriter critiqued Bennett's playing abilities as: "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."