A Closer Look At The NFL Bullying Case

The NFL has brought us fans some great memories this season on the field. Of course, with on field success comes off the field drama. So far, the biggest story to come out from off the field issues has been the hazing incidents between Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin, former teammates with the Miami Dolphins. Incognito has played in the NFL for nine years, while Martin was in just his second pro season. Both guys have left the team, Martin did so on his own account over what happened, while Incognito was suspended indefinitely by the team for his actions towards Martin. Now for those of you reading this who are unfamiliar with what has gone down, here's a recap of what exactly has happened.

-Alleged texts sent to Martin from Incognito consisting of vulgar and very crude language detrimental to a person
-A Vegas trip with a bill for $15,000 that Martin didn’t even go on.
-Martin allegedly being told by Coach Philbin to “strike” Incognito to take care of the situation
-Incognito claiming that Martin sent him threatening messages afterwords

So there are a few different reports as to what has actually happened here, but that, for the most part is what we do know for a fact happened. All we know from Jonathan Martin is that after this went down, he left the team, choosing to take I feel the high road here. Martin hasn't gone on record and talked about what happened exactly, and I don't really blame him. Something like that went down I wouldn't really be ready to talk about it yet either. I do have a lot of respect for Jonathan Martin for handling the situation with class and dignity, which, so far as I can see it, everybody else involved with this incident lacks.

Did the Dolphins coaching staff really go and tell Incognito to do those things to Martin? I have no idea I wasn't there. If in fact that is the case, then somebody got their signals crossed up somewhere along the lines. Its a common practice in the sports world for coaches to tell veteran players to toughen up some of the younger guys on a team. It happens in all sports. But I really don't think the Dolphins staff wanted Incognito to really go as far as he did. The coaching staff has yet to comment on the story, so we have no way of knowing as of yet, what exactly it is they did.

Finally there's Mr Incognito. He said in an interview with Jay Glazer that some of what he said is stuff that is said all the time in an NFL Locker Room. He also said that some of the stuff that was said, he and Martin said to each other all the time (I'm parpaphrasing here). It seemed heartfelt coming from Incognito, but I still have this gut feeling that he wasn't fully telling the truth.

Now I still have this gut feeling that there is a lot more going on here than meets the eye. not everything has been made public knowledge yet. And the Dolphins are trying to get this story covered up and thrown under the rug quickly, and I really don't think that's going to happen. I think this story is going to be hanging around for a long time until everything is out in the open and we can get a straight, honest answer from all parties involved.