Michael Bennett is a team player in more ways than one. From the Southern communities he grew up in to the athletes he played alongside in the NFL, a sense of solidarity and camaraderie drives his work.
His father was a military man, so frequent moves were a hallmark of Bennett’s childhood, with stops in San Diego, Washington and Houston. The constant change of scenery sparked an early interest in design and architecture—specifically how design can impact a neighborhood. “I was exposed to a lot of different worlds and ways of life,” he says. “I saw firsthand the ways communities can be designed to create segregation and a lack of resources.”
A talented athlete, Bennett competed in various sports during high school before enrolling at Texas A&M University, where he served as a star defensive lineman for
its football team. In 2009, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Seattle Seahawks, the team he would go on to help win the Super Bowl in 2013. After eleven seasons in the league—including stints playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys—Bennett retired in 2020. “Football is a form of art: the art of the body,” he says. “Our successes and failures as a team tell a story about our shared experiences.”
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