There is more to the kerfuffle in the Miami Dolphins locker room with Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin than is being said. While some say Incognito has a reputation for being a bully and Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland had heard of some angst between the two as well as Incognito's behavior with other young players had told Martin to punch Richie, fight back. It is hard to believe that in a sport dominated by players of color he would on his own make racial statements on voicemail considering what Riley Cooper of Philadelphia had to go through for making racist comments at a concert this past year.
I've heard word the Dolphins wanted Incognito who plays on the same side of the offensive line that Martin does wanted Incognito to "toughen" Martin up and Incognito's bullying would do the same for other young players.
While pranks are a part of the NFL and all sports one way or another it turned out a very harmless one was what sent Martin over the edge.
Supposedly when he sat down at a table in team dining room for a meal all of the players got up and left. Word is that there is a penalty for being the last one in the dining room after a meal.
Baseball players are well known for their pranks as well. Having a player sing his college's fight song or dressing in drag.
There have been some well known hazing cases in the high school ranks in sports in Illinois in recent years that have been of a sexual nature.
But before we go out an start calling Richie Incognito a bigot all sides of the story has to come out including the possibility Martin was too thin skinned for the hyper-macho NFL. No one has come out and said anything like this goes on in any other locker room not to mention the fact that Martin is a second year player not a rookie.
I am an African American male who will call a spade a spade when it comes to issue of race. Not because it is vogue to point to the nearest white person if they say something that I don't agree with or gets under my skin. I also know when something isn't passing the smell test and this story stinks of an inside job. I'm sure if Incognito had a problem with Martin it could have been handled a year ago when the Dolphins drafted Martin out of Stanford.
While Stanford University is a well known academic institution, in recent years since the Harbaugh days when he was coaching the football team Stanford is a football school. The Dolphins are better this year than they've been in the past so if this was a sad sack team I'd say fire everybody and start over. But with a decent team this year no one in charge's head is on the chopping block which it should be.
It would be harsh to say I don't think Incognito has the brains to pull what he did but he doesn't strike me as a guy who would go out of his way to do something as reprehensible as record a voicemail with racial slurs and threats of bodily harm and death. I think he's been around too long. I think this one stinks from the head and poor Richie is the whipping boy for this one. I hope this is the case. I would hate to see someone's career ended over some completely avoidable nonsense because he took one for the team.
Godfrey Logan
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