Seattle Times Columnist Apologizes After Michael Bennett Threatened Boycott

Seattle Times columnist Matt Calkins wrote an apology piece to Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett on Monday after criticizing him in a previous column.

Calkins' apology came after Bennett tweeted Sunday that he would never talk to the Seattle Times for the rest of his career and prompted his teammates to follow suit.      

In the original article, Calkins praised Bennett for his play on the field and charitable work but blasted him for his response to a reporter's question after Seattle's playoff loss to the Atlanta Falcons last season.

Calkins described the scene he witnessed: "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."

Calkins then wrote the reporter Bennett ripped had survived cancer, and he expressed displeasure that Bennett had not reached out to apologize.

In Calkins' retraction column, however, he noted that the reporter in question, Q13 Fox's Bill Wixey, actually did receive a private apology.

After Calkins took back his criticism, Bennett tweeted the following in response:

The 31-year-old Bennett has developed into one of the NFL's premier defensive ends in recent years, having made the Pro Bowl in each of the past two campaigns.

With 30.5 sacks during his four seasons in Seattle, Bennett ranks 10th on the franchise's all-time sacks list.