Martellus Bennett's Shoulder Injury Was So Bad He Visited 6 or 7 Doctors, Nearly Took a Desk Job at Netflix

Martellus Bennett returned to the New England Patriots on Sunday after an especially trying week. The outspoken tight end started the week dealing with a serious injury in Green Bay that may have been career-ending, and finished the week making three catches for 38 yards with the Patriots. After the game Bennett recounted his harrowing week. Via the Boston Herald:

"“After trying to get (the shoulder surgically) fixed and getting waived,” Bennett said, “you’ve got that vengeance in your heart like, ‘All right, that’s how you’re going to do it? (Expletive) it, let’s go ball.’ ”"

Vengeance is actually more effective in healing injuries than surgery. Which is surprising since none of the doctors Bennett talked to about his shoulder suggested it.

"Bennett said he got opinions from six or seven doctors while trying to decide if he should have season-ending shoulder surgery. Last week, he said three of those doctors advised him to get the procedure, which he ultimately informed the Packers that he intended to do. When he relayed that wish to the Packers, they released him with the designation that Bennett failed to disclose his medical history."

Having to ball-park the number of doctors you saw in one week sounds really rough. So why did he suddenly go against the wishes of the doctors whose opinions he had held in such high esteem days earlier and continue playing football? That’s unclear.

"“It’s not about, ‘Could you play?’ It’s, ‘Should you play?’ It was one of those things,” Bennett said. “Right now, I’m just like, (expletive) it. At first, I told my agent to tell no teams to claim me because I was still trying to get the surgery. So when Bill (Belichick) called and said they claimed me, I was like, ‘No (expletive) way.’ ”"

So he shouldn’t be playing or he couldn’t be playing? Either way “(expletive) it,” was a capricious choice for somebody who just got a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and maybe seventh medical opinion. Before Packers fans lose their minds, they should know that Bennett did briefly consider a career change.

"Even then, Bennett told the Pats coach he wanted to think about it some more. He was talking to companies like Netflix about taking a desk job for the remainder of the season while he recovered from surgery and had already accepted his fate."

Can Netflix H.R. please release all internal communications regarding the potential hiring of an injured tight end? And will this job be waiting when he retires like he thought he had to a few hours ago? Who the (expletive) cares?

"“It was pretty cool,” he said of getting back on the field with the Pats. “Last week, I thought I was going to be on IR, so it’s just been a surreal week for me.”"

Yes, that’s one way to put it.