Here’s some karma. A month removed from Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito blowing up Jonathan Martin’s voicemail with explicit this and that, it’s been Incognito’s voicemail that’s blowing up.
From reporters to friends, this guy probably hasn’t had this many people come to him out of the woodwork since his first NFL paycheck. The whole mess started with reports.
Incognito, a Caucasian, took multiple shots over voicemail at Martin, an African American, with racial slurs, threats to kill him (on the practice field, we’d hoped he meant), along with things too vulgar to mention. As a result, he was and still remains suspended by the Dolphins.
The reports leaked, and Incognito drowned. The scurrying pack of media which horded around the bulky center of attention is apparent, but the meaning behind the incident was not. That is, until just recently.
“I did not intend to hurt him,” Incognito will tell you.
Well, yeah, maybe if he’s auditioning for Comedy Central’s “The Roast” series. Like, really? Killing? Maybe he felt the obligation as a veteran leader to set Martin, a second-year player, in a state of intimidation until he had nitpicked him into a product of fully reached potential.
“What I was going for, I was going for, I haven’t seen my buddy. I wanted him to call me back,” Incognito said. “When the words are put in the context, I understand why a lot of eyebrows get raised. But people don’t know how Jon (Martin) and I communicate to one another.”
Nevertheless, Incognito should’ve known this wasn’t some non-rhythmic, acapella rap battle phone tag. If his intentions were a quick sprint, he went a marathon too far. Martin happens to be a 300-pound offensive lineman, as well. But just because a guy can take shots from other 300-pounders physically does not make him any more capable of taking them verbally.
What was thrown out of the mouth and onto that voicemail was thousands times more impactive than any pancake blow he could’ve laid. How ill-minded could this idea have been before he dialed Martin? Is Richie really that b**chy? Dolphins center Mike Pouncey and wide receiver Mike Wallace, both African Americans, told ESPN’s Cris Carter that they want Incognito back on the team, saying that they both “love” and “respect” him.
Strictly from the ear test, nothing more, I definitely buy what his teammates are saying about him. The eye test only helps. All of Incognito’s interviews, candid or not—pre voicemail, post voicemail—he seems on many levels like any other professional, well-conducted NFL player.
There have been reports of teammates not only wanting him back, but even saying Martin and Incognito were actually friends.
“Whenever I saw Jon (Martin) and hung out with Jon it was usually with Richie (Incognito) because they were friends,” teammate Brian Hartline said. “I’ve seen pictures of them on the plane playing around. They were always playing around. The O-line as a group was a big family.”
Most of the public never knew this. The overhyped perception of the story is Incognito angrily threatening his teammate. With no side stories or prior knowledge of their tough-guy relationship, of course the situation is rubbed off on everybody as a hatred-embodied, penalty-worthy act. And it’s a damn shame.
“One, if I’m not mistaken, this was the same guy (Martin) who was laughing about the voicemail at one point in time,” Hartline said. “Second of all, if you go through the whole voicemail there are some things said that you probably shouldn’t say in general, friends or not friends. But with that being said I never thought it was a death threat. I never thought he was going to do the things he said. If you can’t take validity from one part of the voicemail, how can you take validity from the whole—you can’t pick and choose which parts count and which parts don’t.”
If there are people to base an opinion on the topic off of, it’s guys like Hartline—guys that have had eyes and ears on these people for the past few years.
This past week, the Dolphins agreed to keep Incognito on the team, though still suspended. An arbitrator now has the first week of December to complete his investigation.
In the meantime, Incognito’s future hangs in the balance. His slap-on-the-wrist consequences remain now like his wrist is strapped to a cutting board, a relentless sledge hammer of scrutiny pounding away.
Did he take his spree-of-the-moment actions too far? Yes.
Have the repercussions been taken too far? The Dolphins surely think so. With the insight they’ve given us, it’s arduous to contradict them; it truly is hard to go against them. Well, on the field, that’s a different story.
When these legal matters all get settled, Incognito’s story will be too.