Time heals all wounds, as do money and security.
Such is Michael Bennett's relationship with the New England Patriots, a franchise that frustrated him for years and defeated him on the game's biggest stage, a franchise that he will now call home for likely the next two seasons.
"I used to hate the Patriots. I'd hate it because they'd win so much. I'd hate it because Tom Brady's hair was long. I'd hate it that [Bill] Belichick would wear sweaters," Bennett told the team's official website. "But now that I'm here, I love it. I love Tom Brady's hair. I love being a Patriot, obviously, because it's all about winning. I think everything about the organization is about team-first. It's just about doing what you need to do to get to where we want to go as a group. I think I love that."
Funny how being traded to the defending Super Bowl champions changes one's perspective.
Bennett, who was a star defensive lineman for the Seattle Seahawks when they fell at the death to the Pats in Super Bowl XLIX, was officially acquired by his ex-arch enemy on Thursday as part of a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly reaped a 2020 fifth-round pick in exchange for Bennett and a 2020 seventh-round pick.
The 33-year-old defensive end isn't new to the Patriots organization as far as his family is concerned. Bennett's brother, Martellus, played one-and-a-half seasons with the Patriots in 2016 and 2017, helping lead New England to a title in Super Bowl LI.
"He loved it, but the fact he loved it made me hate it," Michael Bennett said of Martellus' time in Foxborough. "I was the brother that was the Super Bowl champ. Then he took that from me. He just took it. Now I need to take that back."
Just over four years ago, Michael Bennett was instigating a fight with and throwing hands at Patriots players as time wound down during Seattle's Super Bowl defeat. On Thursday, the defensive end was instead launching praise in New England's direction.
