Athletes draw on myriad sources of inspiration in order to perform marvelous feats.

This past October in Cleveland, New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett overcame an apparently serious ankle injury by channeling his inner Luke Cage. As he lay prone on the FirstEnergy Stadium grass while Patriots trainers attended to his ankle, Bennett dismissed the idea of being carted off the field.

“I’ve been watching Luke Cage, he’s the bulletproof brother from Marvel, and I’m like: ‘What would Luke Cage do right now?’” Bennett told reporters afterward. “He’d get up and keep bouncing around.”

Bennett rebounded from the first-quarter injury that initially put his availability in question and caught three Tom Brady touchdown passes in a 33-13 Patriots’ victory.

In the video above, actor Mike Colter – who portrays the Marvel superhero in Netflix’ dramatic series Luke Cage – wishes Bennett good luck in the NFL postseason.

Colter, who visited ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters this week as part of a Car Wash, loved Bennett’s reference to his alter ego.

“I got a kick out of that. Martellus Bennett is a guy I’ve actually followed,” Colter said. “I saw the E:60 [feature] with him and his brother [Michael, a Seattle Seahawks star]. The guy’s a Renaissance man himself. He paints. He’s very smart.”

Colter just doesn’t want Bennett being heroic in a possible Super Bowl showdown against his favorite team.

Jon McLeod produced the video.

The Walt Disney Company owns both ESPN and Marvel.