And I thought the Redskins had problems.........
As I said in the title, the Miami Dolphins have become a circus. James Walker of ESPN said it best when he wrote that this story really now transcends sports. This is now a human interest story. Working in education, whenever you hear the word "bully" used, you stop and pay attention. There are a few words in my field that will always make you stop what you're doing. "Intruder" is one of them. "Fire" is another.
"Bully" is another.
Let's face it, after we heard that word, we all were quick to convict Richie Incognito, myself included. The dude is a d*****bag. Always has been, going back to his college days when he spit on other players. Some role model. And if you heard what was on that voice message, you think to yourself, "Yep, that fits. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Rich." Now don't get me wrong, he STILL is a d*****bag, and he STILL does not deserve a job in the NFL (I don't know what "storm" he's trying to weather). Any GM dumb enough to want to hire this guy needs his head examined. However, after listening to what the Dolphins players had to stay...you have come away a bit surprised.
They were using words like "mentor," "friend," "brother" to describe the relationship between Incognito and Jonathan Martin. I got news for you, those are three words I would have NEVER used to describe Richie Incognito.
Now I get the NFL culture to a certain extent. Having never been in a locker room I never will get it entirely. There is the unwritten rule that rookies have to...ahem...take care of the veterans to a point. Carry the shoulder pads after practice (I seen it!), pick up the tab after dinner (couple grand, OK, but $30,000 plus $15K more to go to Vegas?!?!?!), even be the target of the vets amusement by getting tied to a goal post with athletic tape. That kind of thing happens with regularity. "Welcome to the NFL, rook'." Rookie hazing has been part of the culture since time immemorial, despite whatever "no hazing" policy a team might have in place. As long as it is within reason, and it more importantly does not affect game planning or the health of the players, the coaches usually turn a blind eye (let the veterans handle it as they say).
The dinner tabs and nights out in Vegas are bad enough ($45,000 is 1/10 of the average rookie's total salary for the year), but the death threats and racial epithets crossed a line no one should dare even approach. Riley Cooper got himself drunk and was caught using an epithet that landed on YouTube and now he has officially been labeled "racist." Not defending Riley Cooper, he got himself in that mess. It's his own damn fault, he should have known better, and he deserves everything he gets. However you have to consider the instant-gratification social media culture we now live in. You say one word, you are already guilty in the court of public opinion. Richie Incognito not only used disgusting language toward another teammate and threatened to kill him, he had a rap sheet as long as it is from here to the moon. If ANYBODY should have known better, it was him.
Which brings us now back to the issue of the Dolphins players not defending Jonathan Martin, oh no, but defending Richie Incognito. The issue here is simple. NFL locker rooms are macho and hierarchical, I get that. However, from one human being to another, you don't do to Jonathan Martin what Richie Incognito (or whoever else we don't know was involved) did. That kind of language and behavior will not land you in the principal's office at school...it will land you on the street (jail?). They can talk about being "brothers" all they want. At the end of the day, their occupation is that they play a GAME. They produce nothing except 3 hours of entertainment on Sunday. They play a GAME. If they really are teammates that look out for each other like they say, this type of thing would never happen, and they would thank their lucky stars they just have the opportunity to play a game for as much money as they do. End of story.
Stay classy, Miami.
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