My Two Cents

This whole Incognito  v. Martin brouhaha is nonsense. Who cares? Mean ole meanies on a football team - huge alpha males sparring verbally and physically with each other to establish a pecking order. It started with Cain and Abel and it isn't going to stop just because a bunch of metrosexuals feel that football should be played by men who are nice to each other.

Sports Illustrated has an article submitted by a former Miami player, Lydon Murtha,  who defends Incognito and says the whole thing is blown out of proportion. I offer here the very beginning and the very end of Murtha's opinion.

I don’t have a dog in this fight.

I want that to be very clear. I played offensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins from 2009 until the 2012 preseason, when I was released after tearing ligaments in my foot and injuring my back, both requiring surgery. I have since retired, and I’m happily working in the auto industry and living outside of Miami. I went to college at Nebraska with Richie Incognito, and I consider myself friends with him and Jonathan Martin, but I don’t speak with them regularly and I’m not taking sides. I’m only interested in the truth, which is what I’m going to share, from my own experiences and from conversations with friends still on the team.

[...]The most unfortunate thing about this situation is the consequence it will have on the careers of both men. Richie’s marked himself now as a racist and a bigot, and unfortunately that could be the end of it. Martin is on the opposite end of the spectrum, but no more likely than Incognito to return to the NFL if he wants. In going to the media with his problem, Martin broke the code, and it shows that he’s not there for his teammates and he’s not standing up for himself. There might be a team that gives him a chance because he’s a good person, but the players will reject him. They’ll think, If I say one thing he’s going to the press. He’ll never earn the respect of teammates and personnel in the NFL because he didn’t take care of business the right way.

What fans should understand is that every day in the NFL there are battles between players worse than what’s being portrayed. This racial slur would be a blip on the radar if everything that happens in the locker room went public. But all over the league, problems are hashed out in house. Either you talk about it or you get physical. But at the end of the day, you handle it indoors.

If you read the comments you'll wonder what happened to men in this country. Bullying and hazing is just another politically correct term used to justify the continued feminization of America. Pretty soon they'll force the NFL to inject Lorazepam and Ritalin into all players just before the game.

This whole thing sounds like a set up for a lawsuit by a player who couldn't hack it.