Sweet Christmas!
Don't tell Martellus Bennett to stay down.
The New England Patriots tight end finished Sunday's game with six catches for 67 yards and 3 touchdowns, all on an injured ankle, which he suffered in the first quarter.
Bennett was asked about his injury after the game, and he cited Marvel superhero Luke Cage, played by Mike Colter in the new Netflix series of the same name, as his inspiration for fighting through the pain.
"S*** hurts," Bennet said, according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. "You lay down for a second. You feel sorry for yourself then you think of all the people who are counting on you on the field and off the field, and you just find a way suck it up and go out there and play for those guys.
"That's what it's really about. I didn't want to let my teammates down. A lot of stuff we worked on in practice counted on both of us being out there [Bennett and tight end Rob Gronkowski], so I had to figure out a way to go back out there and play with my teammates.
"They asked me if I needed a cart and I'm like, 'S***, I'm going to look so weak.' I've been watching Luke Cage. He's the bulletproof brother from Marvel, and I'm like, 'What would Luke Cage do right now?' He'd get up and keep bouncing around, so I was like, 'I've got to get up and show them, get a moment, just run off the field and let them know I'm coming back in the game.'"
The Patriots can only hope Bennett, who has 21 catches for 314 yards and 4 touchdowns, heals as fast as Luke Cage.
Locker buddies
Comedian Amy Schumer put on a show at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Thurdsay, and before she took the stage, she was looking for place to relax.
Apparently, her dressing room wasn't quite good enough, according to Twitter. The star of the movie Trainwreck instead found her way into the Cleveland Cavaliers' locker room and curled up inside LeBron James' locker with her earphones and a book.
She tweeted a picture of her endeavor, saying, "Pre show. Thanks."
James, who became friends with Schumer while filming the movie, tweeted back, "You're always welcome!!"
All this prompted Jason Rowan of Yardbarker to wonder if the two were talking about a sequel to Trainwreck.
"Anything's possible," Rowan wrote. "Perhaps Schumer left a note for James about it in his locker."
Just short
Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown said he thinks his daughter, Bridget, needs more friends.
Friday was Jersey Day at her school, so she and six of her friends did the only logical thing, trotting out McCown jerseys from seven of his nine NFL teams. Two more girls were needed to show all the jerseys..
McCown tweeted out a picture of the girls and their jerseys, saying, "When your daughter has jersey day at school and she doesn't have enough friends to wear all the teams #2missing."
Since 2002, McCown has played for the Cardinals, Lions, Raiders, Dolphin, Panthers, 49ers, Bears, Buccaneers, and Browns.
Bridget needed three more friends to display the McCown jersies from the Cardinals, Panthers and 49ers.
They said it ...
• New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard, tweeting after his team's 3-0 wild-card playoff loss to the Giants: "Baseball has a way of ripping your heart out, stabbing it, putting it back in your chest, then healing itself just in time for spring training."
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel, on NBA preseason games: "As useless as a white crayon."
• Headline at satirical site SportsPickle.com: "Bobby Bonilla demands trade after Mets come up short in postseason again."
• Headline from sports comedy site TheKicker.com: "49ers kneel to protest Blaine Gabbert continuing to play."
Sports quiz
In the new Luke Cage series on Netflix, the title character was a high school athlete. What sport did he play?
Answer
Football. Luke Cage (then known as Carl Lucas) was a running back.
Sports on 10/10/2016