How a trip to Japan helped convince Martellus Bennett to retire from football
"It wasn’t because I couldn't play physically, or anything like that."
Martellus Bennett helped the Patriots win Super Bowl LI in 2017. He was also a brief part of the team last season. Yet almost a year into his retirement from football, Bennett says he’s “never been happier.”
Speaking on WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria” on Thursday, Bennett offered a glimpse into his 2018 timeline. The decisive moment when Bennett knew he would retire from the NFL happened during a trip to Japan.
“I love Japan,” Bennett said. “It changed my life.”
“I went there last year, right before I retired. I went on a spiritual pilgrimage in Japan just to find myself and decide what I wanted to do.”
The experience opened Bennett to the possibility that he didn’t love his work.
“That was the extra pushing factor into me retiring,” said Bennett. “There were just so many people out there that loved everything they did. For me, I always wanted more out of life. I never really wanted to be a football player and I never really fit in to the locker room as a football guy. I fit in on the field. I love competing, I love that, but football wasn’t my calling. At one point I just ended up on autopilot playing, because it’s what I did for most of my life.”
The trip also showed the former Patriot what he should do after football.
“Everyone I met, they loved every single part of it and I realized that I didn’t love every part of football, and what I love every single part of is creativity,” Bennett noted. “I was like, ‘I just want to create for the rest of my life.’ And I have never been happier. That is why I retired. It wasn’t because I couldn’t play physically, or anything like that. I just wanted to be happy with every part of what I was doing and I wanted to have a big purpose and passion in it.”
Since retiring, Bennett has focused on creating children’s books for his business, The Imagination Agency.
