Four years after Colin Kaepernick first took a knee during the National Anthem to protest racial inequalities in America, NFL defensive end Michael Bennett says he believes that now, "America is ready for change."
He told "Nightline" that George Floyd's death acted as a "tipping point for the world."
"As a human and as an African American man, it just brings so much trauma," Bennett said of Floyd's death. "It just brings so much cloudiness into the actuality of what is it to be a human or ... to respect somebody's humanity at this point in our world."
Floyd's story, along with that of many other black Americans, has added to a building rage across the country, he said.
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"There's a sense of rage because people are not being heard," he said. "They feel like their voices have to be heard. They're constantly seeing death."
Inspired by Kaepernick, Bennett first sat during the national anthem in 2017 after the violence at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. He continued his protest through 2018 while playing with the Eagles. In 2019, while playing for the Patriots, he stayed in the locker room during the anthem. He is now a free agent who last played with the Cowboys.
"Everybody has a sister fighting for cancer. Everybody wants to, you know, help the dogs, help this. But not everybody want to see African Americans have free lives. Not everybody wants to see women be fairly treated," Bennett said. "That takes boldness to stand up on those things that people are going to have rebuttals about, because that is challenging the status quo of really what life is."
He hopes this upcoming NFL season will be different, telling "Nightline" he believes more players will show solidarity in the protest.
"The NFL is like ... a plant, it goes with the wind," he said. "The wind is waving this way and the fan bases are here. So I think the teams are going to be more likely to say that we know black lives matter."
Dealing with law enforcement as a black American is a reality Bennett has had to face himself.
In August 2017, Bennett said he was handcuffed, had guns pointed at him and was held on the ground as a police officer "forcefully jammed his knee" into Bennett's back.
"If I make one wrong move, I'll never see my kids again. I never see my wife again. ... You start questioning your humanity. You start [to] question if you're going to even exist anymore," he remembered. "There's somebody that's on my back with a knee. And the common reaction for a human is, if something's holding you down, is to get up. ... If you aren't able to resist the urge, you can really lose your life in it. If you do resist the urge, you still can lose your life."
Authorities were searching for an active shooter and realized within 10 minutes Bennett was completely uninvolved. After body camera footage was released the following month, Las Vegas police denied that race had anything to do with apprehending Bennett.
"Color is an identifier to some -- most people in America. And being black in America is an identifier of [a] criminal," he said of the incident. "There's always this fear of when you're African American at any point, your life could be taken at any moment because the fear of others, of your skin, of the way that you look."
Bennett said Kaepernick broke "a long drought of political activism with athletes" -- following in the footsteps of "Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, [and] of course, Muhammad Ali."
"It kind of ignited a fire in a lot of people who were scared to have a voice or scared to really go out and say ... what they feel about what's happening to society," he said. "I think when Colin Kaepernick took a knee, it brought attention to the world and it put the teams and the players on this ... platform to speak about injustice."
Bennett credited Kaepernick with showing fellow NFL players that this was an issue they could and should speak out about.
"Colin let us know that we as athletes, we're not a different black," he added. "We're still that black, we're still that human. It is us reclaiming and having a sense of urgency to better our communities and better our fellow human beings. ... It's our responsibility."
Bennett predicted seeing backlash to the protest in the league.
"Yeah, I think there's a reason why a lot of people have lost their lives because of bringing up racial issues, right? Because ... racism is woven into the fabric of America," he said. "When you are stepping up and speaking out, that there's going to be backlash because there's a certain sect of America that still believes in the ideology that some people are less than others."
One of the more outspoken critics of the protests is the president himself. At a rally in 2017, he urged NFL owners to fire any player who protested, calling them “son of a b----.”
“Here is somebody [who wants to]… put a muzzle on us and shut us up. Right. Because to him in his mind that we're animals,” Bennett said. “Because animals shouldn't have a voice… he wants to silence us. But I think when he says that, it shows us that our voices are being heard.”
Saints quarterback Drew Brees drew immense criticism for saying he would "never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag” when asked about revisiting Kaepernick’s protest. Brees has since apologized for his comments, which he acknowledged were "insensitive," and said in an apology video he posted on Instagram: “I know that there’s not much I can say that would make things any better right now. But I just want you to see in my eyes how sorry I am... I am sorry. And I will do better… and I will be part of the solution. And I am your ally.”
“I think every Caucasian person in America has to do their due diligence on why African-Americans and why people of color are fighting for a chance for their kids to have a fair life,” Bennett said. “I think it’s on Drew Brees to do his homework and really connect to why people are having their story.”
Bennett also weighed in on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's statement admitting the league was wrong in not listening to players earlier -- but did not acknowledge Kaepernick by name.
"I think the ball's in NFL's court," he said. "Roger Goodell's acknowledgment of how they didn't get it right ... is this the moment where they're going to make it right?"
One improvement would be to increase the diversity of the league's management, Bennett said. There are only two black general managers among the 32 teams in the league and four coaches who are persons of color.
"African American coaches are very limited," he said. "This system that is ran and played by African American players, they aren't being represented in the league in any type of positions of power or any positions or diversity."
The NFL announced Thursday they would commit $250 million over 10 years “to combat systemic racism and support the battle against the ongoing and historic injustices faced by African-Americans.”
Another demand: Get Kaepernick back on the field.
"I think the NFL has to rectify that ... situation with Colin Kaepernick," Bennett said. "He was blackballed and it's obvious. ... Usually with those qualifications, you usually have an opportunity to continue playing."
At 32 years old, and not having played for three seasons, some question whether Kaepernick would be a successful player if he returned.
"I don't think he's past his time," Bennett said. "Forty is the new 30 in the NFL for quarterbacks and quarterbacks are playing long careers -- 18-, 20-year careers."
"We all know that there's a sense of covert racism within the league that wasn't really shown," he added. "It is covert, but at the same time, it was overtly shown by not having him playing in the league."
ABC News' Ashley Louszko, Ashan Singh, John Kapetaneas, Knez Walker, Meredith Frost and Dan Pryzgoda contributed to this report.