 I'm Rusty Komori, and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. This show is based on my books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game, and it's about leadership, character, and creating a superior culture of excellence. My special guest today is the dad of not one but two Super Bowl champions. He is Michael Bennett Sr., and today we are going beyond Super Bowl champions. Hey, Michael, welcome to Beyond the Lines. Thank you for having me, Rusty, happy to be here. Michael, I felt so happy to do a tennis training session for you last week when you're visiting Hawaii, and I want to ask you about this. I mean, it's extra special for any parent to have one Super Bowl champion son, but it is absolutely extraordinary for a parent to have two Super Bowl champion sons, and that's what you are. Now, is there just a handful of those in the history of the NFL? Yes, not that many others. I'm assuming it's about 20 families or so. I haven't actually counted them, but I haven't found more than 20 families that have two sons that want Super Bowls. Now, I mean, and this is in the history of the NFL. I mean, we all know the Peyton Manning family, and I want to know, Michael, what shaped your character early on in life? Well, you know, growing up where I grew up in, I grew up in a small, small town in Louisiana, a population of about 2,500. It was a close-knit group. We grew up by community, and so that helped me, when I became a father, for that closeness that I grew up with to instill it in my boys. And I think that was one of the reasons why they were able to achieve, because I was a hands-on dad. So it was a good thing. Yeah, and I know that you were in the Navy, and what were some of the lessons you learned during your time in the Navy? So the Navy really made me become a man. I enjoyed the Navy. I began to travel the world and see different coaches and eat different foods, which I never saw where I grew up at. And that enabled me to embrace different cultures and different foods and different people. And I began to get to understand the world better by joining the Navy. Now, I want to ask you about parenting champions now. What were some key things that you did as a parent? Well, first, I mean, first, like, I was a sports fanatic. I love sports. I grew up in sports. Sports was, you know, being a young black man growing up in America, sports was usually our way out. That's the way we got to college, just the way we achieved goals and met people. So, and my boys didn't have to do that luckily. We were able to provide for them, but I love sports. And so I got them in sports early. I was their coach for a while there. Up until about the seventh grade, I was their coach. I never ever missed a practice. From the day they started playing basketball, football, I never missed a practice. And I enjoyed that. That actually made my day, you know, going to practice and watching them do what they do. And they enjoyed me being there. I remember a time when Mike was in the eighth grade and he wanted these special cleats to play in the game with. So he called me at work. He's like, that I want these shoes. Like, all right. So I left work a little early and I tried to find the shoes and I couldn't find them. I couldn't, I went to store after store after store. And finally, I went to this last store and they had the shoes. And the game started about seven o'clock. I got to the stadium about 6.54. And I could see Michael looking in the stands, looking for me, looking for me. And when he saw me, his eyes just got huge. And I took the cleats that I had already, laced them up for him. He put them on and he had a great game. He had about three out of yours that game. He's a really good running back there. Well, it must have been the shoes, right? Must have been the shoes, man, because he had about three out of yours. And I don't know, I'm going to touchdown. At least five touchdowns. He was us, I was going that game. It was a great feeling. Well, so let's talk about Michael Jr. now. I mean, you know, I know him very well, but what are some reasons why he became a Super Bowl champion because he was undrafted in the NFL? Yes, Michael is a very hard worker. Michael's a guy that, I know you coach him in tennis and you see, when you tell him he's not doing something right, he's going to make sure he does it right. Because he's the guy that, when he's back up against the wall, he comes out swinging. He's really, really good when his back up against the wall. When he's out front, you don't really put the effort in, but when he's behind, you want him on your team. He's a great guy to have there. I watched him do this all his life. He's just been a guy that he digs and digs and digs and he just keeps digging until he gets his goal. We've all seen him, we've all seen his greatness on the field in the NFL. I've been training him in tennis for over a year and a half now and I get to see his greatness on the tennis court and he's been making such a huge positive impact in society. I mean, what you see, when you see Michael, he's so authentic, he's so real. I mean, what you see is what you get, right? Exactly. Well, he was raised that way. We wasn't, he wasn't raised in a household that was, he was raised in an inclusive household. All his friends were, I mean, on Father's Day, I usually get so many calls from all the guys that they were friends with growing up because I treated them all the same. They all come to my house. We had a great time here. We had a great time together. And so he took that and he just built on that in his life, right? He's very inclusive. He loves having people around. He's just a genuine guy and I love the person he is. Martellis is an incredible athlete as well. I mean, he was one of the top recruits for basketball in addition to football, right? Yes, Martellis actually could have went to the NBA out of high school. He was going to get drafted. The minor he had called us and they told us they was going to draft me in the first round and we was excited about that. And then they called me a few days later and said they would still take him but they'll take him in the second round. And when they told us that I really wanted him to go and go off to college but I wanted him to go play basketball, right? I thought he was going to go to Duke. My success was called us every day. What is Martellis going to do? What is Martellis going to do? I was like, coach, hope he goes. But he ended up going to sex then and he actually played both football and basketball there. They had a very good team there. He went to the elite 16, his second year on the team but yeah, he could have gone to the NBA at high school. Now, I mean, everybody knows that coach Kay is legendary. How were your interactions with coach Kay during that time? For me, it was recruiters overwhelming for me. So, I mean, from coach Mac Brown, to coach Kay, to coach Bill Salve, to I mean, just all these last miles, all these coaches from all over these big-time university was coming to my house or calling on the phone. And so I began to just take it all with a grain of salt and just trying to do what's best for Martellis and I. And so the coach of themself, it was great talking to them. But at the end of the day, I wanted to do what's best for him and it was best for our coach or school. What I find really interesting too is both Michael Jr. and Martellis, they both played with Tom Brady. I mean, Tom Brady is the greatest of all time. And I mean, Martellis won the Super Bowl with Tom Brady and Michael played with the New England Patriots. I mean, what are some things that impresses you about Tom Brady? Well, I love his work ethic. I think Tom Brady is a great guy. I think he loves to compete. He has that no-lose attitude, which is a great thing to have when you're playing sports. I just think he's a great guy. Now, being the greatest of all time, I'm pretty much, he's like my third guy when he comes to the quarterback position. But I really like him. I really like the way he goes about his business. I just think he has that attitude that when I'm down, I'm still gonna be able to win this game because he thinks he can win every time he step on the football field. So Michael, who might be in the top two of greatest of all time? Well, for the quarterback position, I really love the San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Joe Montana. I thought Joe Montana was the greatest. I mean, to watch that guy play. And at that time, the way the quarterbacks were treated, not like they're treated today. Today, you really can't hit a quarterback. But Joe Montana took a lot of hits and hung in there. And I thought he was a great quarterback. I love Joe Montana. And I just love Jim Keller too. I thought he was a great quarterback when he was with the Buffalo Bills. He go to four Super Bowls in a row, didn't win any of them. But just to get there four times in a row is an amazing feat itself. And I always love the way Jim Keller played the game. And so I don't know if he's great at the time, Brady, but I'm always gonna take the Joe Montana over mark right now. And Michael, I feel so honored that you liked my books. I mean, I wanna ask you about the books where obviously you know that I speak a lot about the importance of mindset and the brain controls the body. And what are your thoughts about really having the right mindset to really explore your potential for greatness? Well, you know, your book does point out. And actually I've introduced your book to a couple of friends of mine for their kids. I wanted their kids to read the book because I felt like, you know, they was going through some things with their boys. And I felt like they should read this book and it'll help them along the way, even in business. But for me, I think that the mindset of not being defeated is a great mindset because you could think one way and put your mind to put you in a different position and then you can always, you've got the devil on one shoulder, angel on the other shoulder, which one you gonna listen to? So I just feel like, you know, the mindset is the tool that can prepare you to greatness or compare you to a lotasness. Now, when you reflect back on Michael and Martellus, how, what was, was there like a turning point for them where they just really got into that right mindset to really excel with their sport? Yes, and I was at the practice when Michael got his. I think Martellus was just born with it. Like he was just like, he always wanted to be competitive. He just always wanted to compete. He didn't care who was on the other side of him. He just felt like he could beat the next, that person over there. And Michael is, he's, you know, he has that mindset of he just want everybody to be included. He want to be friends with everybody. And so I'm at practice one day and it was, it was about four or five dads that went to every practice. And so, and he's just traveled his day. His dad is, he's standing next to me. His son is always aligned and Michael's the deepest alignment and they go on at it at practice, right? And Michael's going at this guy and he's, and I can see that he's not really giving this all because he just want his teammate to shine a little bit. And I yell something to him, you got to win every play. And then after that, he, he, he whoops the guy. And then they actually get into a fist fight on the football field. You know, the coach at Brooklyn are really quick. And then after the practice, I said, now you're ready. Because now I see, because at practice, that's the time you want to shine. And that's the time you want your teammates to shine at the same time. But you need them to grow as a team. Because if they think they're better than what they really are, or they don't think they're as good as they really are, when they get on, when they get in competition, they might not be able to let your life shine. So when Michael did that, I told him at home that I said, you ready now. And that was his moment. And after that moment, he became, he became a great football player at that moment. Yeah, I agree with you because I think a lot of athletes who achieve greatness, I mean, there, there comes a moment in their lives where it's really pivotal, like you said. And, you know, when I have my interactions with Michael on the tennis court, I mean, there's a difference between giving 100% and giving 1,000% effort. And he really gives that 1,000% effort every time. Don't you agree? I definitely agree with that. And, you know, that was something that, as I said, Michael, he learned it along the way. But once he got it, and he studies really hard about the game of football, he can, we talk about the, he'll call me sometime doing halftime. Yeah, what I'm doing wrong. I say, well, this is what's happening. You need to do this, you need to do that. And he goes out in the field, like I said in the third part, he's using it what I told him. Because when I watch him play, or when I watch him on tennis play, I watch the game from a different perspective than most fans are watching the football game. I'm watching it from my mind, I'm seeing him, I'm seeing his body language. I'm watching his movements. And I'm seeing how he's adjusting to the competition. And I can help him doing it like it happened. When he calls me, I can tell him, look, this is what's going on. You need to do ABC. And then it works for him almost every single time. And Michael, I gotta say, I mean, Michael really listens so well. I mean, and he just wants, whatever he does, he wants to be the greatest at it. And I wanna ask you about this, Michael. We've all had adversities and challenges in our lives. What's a big adversity that you faced in your life? Well, for me, when I was young and in the military, I became a single parent. And just being a single dad with the boys, living in California, no family around, it was tough, but at the same time, it helped me grow to be a better person, to be a better father, to be a better man, because I had no choice. I had to get it or die, right? So not die in the sense of dying, but just I had to achieve. And so that moment, being a single dad, it helped me become a better father. Oh, and I can see that because when I'm talking with you, in your previous trip to Hawaii, it seems like you have that discipline that you're going to succeed no matter what. Like failure is not an option. And so I can see that you becoming a single dad, I mean, you weren't gonna fail at it, you're only gonna succeed, right? Yes, definitely. But having met a woman that came into my life that became the mother that the boys really wanted and became a great woman in their life, she was instrumental in their growth, becoming the people that they are today. So yes, by myself, I was destined to win, but when she came along, I knew I was gonna win. Yeah. Hey, great women, they make a big difference. That's for sure. Now, Michael, when you reflect back on your life so far, what's a valuable lesson you learned? Well, I learned that, looking back on my life, to be very honest with yourself, I feel like a lot of times people are not honest with themselves. You can lie to others, but if you lie to yourself, you're never gonna achieve what you achieve because you can lie to yourself and make you feel like you're better than what you are. You can lie to yourself, make you feel like you're worse than you are. But I feel like if you're honest with yourself, you can achieve what you wanna achieve in life. Yeah, and I can see that with you because you're a man of great character and you're very authentic and genuine and respectful. I mean, you're a man of honor is what I really wanna say. And Michael, what would be your advice to parents? My advice to parents, I talk to a lot of parents all the time. I think that the thing is just be there for your kids, support them and help them grow. Be supportive and don't be cheap when it comes to your kids. Like if you need to spend some money to go do something with them, spend the money to go do something with them. Don't hold back when they come down to your children and just be very supportive, be there for them. And most of the time, people when kids with a certain age, parents begin to become hands off. I say when they get 15 and 16 and 17, 18 need to be more hands on then than you were when they was 12, right? Because now they need you more because now the decision that they're making can be life changing decisions. As opposed to a 12 year old making a decision about going to school to that school, but a 17 year old making a decision that could be a life changing decision for that 17 year old. Now let's flip it. What would be your advice to young boys and girls? So, you know, I tell Michael and Mike and Mark to tell this all the time. First of all, you need to be a great reader. You need to read books and understand life, but set goals, write your goals down and try to make steps that your goal, see some growth in your life with your goals that you wanna achieve. Set, put something down. I wanna be this in this amount of time and make that thing happen. Keep up with yourself and just focus on your goals and you can achieve them. Now, I've always told my teams that, you know, self-discipline is super, super important because self-discipline leads to habits which lead to success. Now that's exactly what happened with Martellus and Michael. Do you agree with that? Yes, yes, one thing about Michael and Martellus, they're very disciplined boys. Now when they were younger, I remember Martellus coming home like they said, dad, we wanna go to this party. I was like, okay, who's gonna be at the party? They're always talking to these folks and then I said, well, I don't know, none of those people, but okay, you guys can go. And so I let them go and then about 20 minutes later, I show up at the party, right? And it's like, dad, what are you doing here? Well, I just wanna know who's here, what's going on up? Now I just wanna meet the parents, make sure somebody's up in here. To this day, they don't wanna go to parties anymore because they think I'm gonna show up. Like dance goes through up, we're not going. So that just helped them understand like, yeah, you can have fun, but you need to have good, clean fun. You need to understand the people around, understand what's happening around you. And so now, even to this day, they don't even like to go out. They just more of just home by the men. And you know what I don't like nowadays is how kids receive participation trophies. I mean, and they know they don't deserve that. I mean, there's something really good about working hard for something that you wanna achieve and really get that trophy, no matter what sport you play, right? Yeah, I agree with that. I don't agree with participation trophies. I think kids should work. And I mean, you don't get an A for showing up in class. You get an A for doing the work, right? Just because you showed up. Oh, you get an A. You don't get that. You have to work for that A. And just like you, but a lot of times the grownups out there, they do those things for money. And so kids could be more, you get more participants, the parents like to see these kids show up, even though they don't not get anything out of it. I just think, you know, kids should know where they are. Know where they are. When they're playing sports, they should know where they are, how they need to grow and what they need to get better at it. Because if you don't, if they get a trophy, like, oh, I'm good. And then when they get to high school or middle school, then they see us other competition. They can't compete. And so I feel like, I don't like that, that participation trophy thing. I just feel like the kids should achieve and they get a water for achieving. Michael, I want to ask you one more question before we wrap up and it's about greatness. I mean, you've been around greatness, oh, you know, all your life. How do you define greatness? I think when I look at greatness, a lot of people look at, you know, like, like my boys when it's bow or Muhammad Ali, when in a match or, you know, Tom Brady, when in rings, I feel like greatness is that journey to get to that point. Because it takes a lot of discipline and a lot of work just to get to that point, to be in that game, to be in that final match. It takes that work. It takes the practice, take discipline. And so I think to achieve greatness, you have to be, you have to set these goals and you have to try to achieve these goals and get better and better and better. And then when you get to that final pinnacle of your career and you winning, that's when you achieve, that's when you achieve greatness. Michael, you are a great dad and you are a fantastic example of what a parent should be. And you are someone that definitely goes beyond the lines. And I want to thank you for joining me on the show today. Thank you for having me. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you, Michael. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKomori.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Michael and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.