“When my daughter was born, I was reading a lot of children's books, and there weren't any characters who looked like her. For all the content that's out there, there aren't many African-American protagonists. I looked at it like, if there isn't someone else creating it then I have to do it myself.”

American children's author and former NFL tight end

Martellus Bennett is an American former professional football tight end and children’s author. Born in 1987, he played 10 seasons in the National Football League, and later turned to writing for young readers. He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies and was named second-team All-Big 12 in 2006. The Dallas Cowboys selected him in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft. During his NFL career he played for five teams, most notably the Chicago Bears, where he earned Pro Bowl honors, and the New England Patriots, with whom he won Super Bowl LI. After retiring, he began publishing children’s books through his company, The Imagination Agency.