NFLPA head throws support behind Michael Bennett

NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith took to social media on Wednesday to show support for union member, defensive end Michael Bennett of the Seattle Seahawks.

“We have seen Michael’s statement, who is one of our player leaders. Social justice is an issue that all NFL players, just like all Americans, have a right to fight for and demand,” Smith said, via his official Twitter account. “We support Michael, just like we do all players, and we are sorry for him and his family that he had that experience.”

The experience Smith is talking about, of course, became public record on Wednesday. Bennett took to the public to talk about an incident in Las Vegas last month. He claims police brutality at the hands of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (more on that here).

For his part, Bennett himself has expanded on a previous statement he made on social media regarding the incident in question.

As Smith noted in his statement, the NLFPA has a meeting in Seattle on Thursday. Surely, the meeting itself was previously set to focus on the Ezekiel Elliott suspension and ongoing court battle. But we’re pretty darn sure the Bennett situation will also come up.

This all comes with Week 1 of the NFL season kicking off on Thursday. Considering one of their own was impacted by perceived police brutality, it would not be a surprise to see mass National Anthem protests throughout the league this week.