Admittedly, we are catching up on things here with the Miami Dolphins/Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito story, but they are nonetheless very interesting.Dolphins coach Joe Philbin spoke to the massed media Wednesday afternoon. Aside from mentioning NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tasking special counsel Ted Wells to look into the issue, he did not go into any detail on the issue.
Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill said that Incognito was great in the locker room and one of the team leaders, he saw nothing to indicate there were issues. He also added that if anything happened to Martin on the field, "Richie was the 1st one to have his back". He also told the assembled mass that "If you asked Jonathan Martin who his best friend is on this team two weeks ago, he'd say Richie Incognito".
For those who've missed it, here's where things stand. Tuesday night, Omar Kelly of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reported from at least 2 Dolphins sources that team coaches had encouraged Incognito to help "toughen up" Martin during the preseason.
No details on what that meant or how it was supposed to be interpreted, but the implication would be that there was a reason Incognito was on Martin's back so hard. The request came after Martin missed an offseason OTA (Organized Team Activity)
The catch being it appears he went to far.
Philbin addressed that by telling reporters that coaching players is to do what is "In their best interest to make them better players". When asked if he thought Martin was tough enough he said Martin "Came in here and worked hard every single day".
Read Kelly's Sun-Sentinel story RIGHT HERE
Amidst the reports of racially tinged texts/voice mails between Incognito and Martin comes a report from Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
Salguero says that most of the black players on the Dolphins team consider Incognito one of them. Or for lack of a better way to put it, an honorary black man. And many of those players did not say they disliked Martin, but rather, according to Salguero, they considered him soft. But does that justify going racial with Martin?
Read more on Salguero's Miami Herald story RIGHT HERE
And the latest is this: The league has appointed
The challenge here is to discern between hazing, teasing, and wanton aggressiveness. And the question is this: How do you prove any of those?
On the surface, yes, it appears multiple lines were crossed. And there should be repercussions for crossing them. But a Football Team is not a "Traditional Workplace".
It appears, based on multiple reports, Jonathan Martin had trouble adjusting to the NFL life. But that does not make him any less a victim. The NFL has a big issue on its hands here. How do you discipline for this?
How do you fire Incognito for doing what he was asked to do (though he may have gone too far)? Nobody seemed to be worried enough to stop it.
How do you make things better for an obviously talented kid (Martin), who appears more sensitive than the average NFL player? It should not mean there isn't a place for him, but how does he walk back into a locker room without being ostracized?
We've said before, an NFL locker room is not a perfect place. There are things done and said there that would not happen in other workplaces. Hazing happens in football, it has for decades. Not always to this extreme. Having rookie traditions is something that's happened for decades. And it happens in other sports.
How do you patrol this? That should be the job of the coaching staff. They are the managers. They are the bosses. Someone in this situation should have stepped up and said "Back Off." The problem is...nobody did.
Warren Sapp addressed going up against Incognito in a game... and didn't seem all that impressed...
((HT: Audience Network/Dan Patrick Show))
Next question:
Was there a vacuum in the discipline from the coaches on the Dolphins staff....???
Here's Rosh Lowe with the beginning of team coverage...???
((HT: WSVN-TV))
WSVN-TV - 7NEWS Miam Ft. Lauderdale News, Weather, Deco
So, to put the question in another context...
Who ordered the Code Red...???
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