Quotes from Michael Bennett, Pete Carroll on Bennett’s police encounter

Following the Seahawks’ practice at team headquarters in Renton on Wednesday, Michael Bennett and Pete Carroll both addressed Bennett’s Aug. 26 encounter with a police officer in Las Vegas. Here are some quotes from their press conferences.

Bennett

• “The whole time through the whole situation, all I could think about was my wife and my kids. I think people sometimes you think that the game is the most important thing, but for me the whole time I wasn’t thinking about the Super Bowl, I wasn’t thinking about what play we were gonna play against Green Bay or sacking Aaron Rodgers. I was just literally thinking about my wife and children and how much they mean to me.”

• “This is a tragic situation for me. I hate to be up here at this moment. (But) there’s a lot of people who have experienced what I experienced at that moment and they’re not here to tell their story. I think about Trayvon Martin, I think about Charleena Lyles, I think about Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, so many different people that had the experience I had, and they’re not here to tell their story.

• “That’s the reality that I live in. People ask why I sit down (during the national anthem) and this is why. These are the things that I go through, what people go through that look like me.”

• “Obviously this is an unjust situation. A lot of people of color have dealt with this before and I hate that it had to happen to me but I’m lucky to be in the situation to have the platform.”

Carroll

• “We’ve shared stories over the years, there’s been stuff that’s happened – more than I like to count. We’ve been through these topics before. This one was very traumatic.”

Here’s a transcript of a prepared statement Carroll read at the start of the press conference.

May this incident inspire all of us to respond with compassion and courage pic.twitter.com/vtsaB8BWi5

— Pete Carroll (@PeteCarroll) September 6, 2017