Michael Bennett Says He'll Boycott Seattle Newspaper After Columnist Criticizes His Maturity [Updated]

Michael Bennett is mad at the Seattle Times. The Seahawks defensive lineman didn’t take kindly to a recent column by Matt Calkins:

Calkins’s column gave Bennett credit for his generosity, wit, and confidence to speak out on social issues, but questioned his maturity by lumping together that time Bennett asked a reporter he didn’t know had cancer what adversity he had been through (a dick move by Bennett) with an argument Bennett has had with Stephen A. Smith (so what?):

I was 10 feet away from Bennett after that playoff loss to the Falcons when he ripped into a reporter for asking a fair question about the pass rush. He called him a “non-playing (expletive)” and asked what kind of adversity he’d been through, implying that there was no way it could be on par with an NFL player.

Well, that reporter survived cancer, which Bennett obviously didn’t know. But the fact that he never apologized or even acknowledged it reeks of immaturity.

This was the same Bennett who, earlier that day, blasted through a Falcons offensive lineman while he was in victory formation. It’s the same Bennett who cracks at least one sex joke per interview, consistently tries to demean the media, and who is now in a war of words with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.

Back in December, Bennett’s teammate Richard Sherman threatened to “ruin” the career of a local radio reporter after a press conference.

UPDATE (10:25 p.m. EDT): An editor’s note was added to the top of Calkins’s column:

Editor’s note: This column has been clarified to reflect that Michael Bennett privately contacted a reporter to express regret about his response to a question following the Seahawks’ playoff loss to the Falcons.

Sounds like Bennett had every reason to be pissed off.

UPDATE (11:42 p.m. EDT): Calkins has apologized.