Threatening someone in the heat of the moment is a lot different then sending brutal text messages and extorting people out of thousands of dollars. That stuff is premeditated. Bart could have had a bad game, a bad day, who knows. That stuff happens. And even if you don't respect Bart Scott, the majority of players, coaches, and GM's who have decided to speak out about this have all said the same thing. I mean, there is an unamed Dolphins rookie who said he's basically gone broke after being forced to pay for veteran players...
It is different. With what we currently know, it's worse. We know that Scott wasn't joking around when he threatened to beat the "Blank" out of that reporter and we know he wasn't joking when he threatened teammates who talked to the media. We don't know the context of the VM. All we have is a transcript in which he said inappropriate things. There is no excuse for the language he used, but was he serious? There is now a report that multiple media outlets left out the part of the VM at the end where Incognito's tone changes and he says, "OK, call me back".
That combined with all the other stuff that has come out makes me question Martin.
You, me, Bart Scott, Players, Coaches and GMs have no clue what went on inside the Dolphins locker room, so we have no right to accuse players and coaches. Don't get me wrong, there is no excuse for the things Incognito said in that VM and people can talk about that all they want. But you can't attack other players and coaches for not putting a stop to something that we don't really know about.
Extortion? For real? I don't like it, but it is common around the NFL for rookies to pay outlandish bills for veterans.
Once again I agree. Jets have far exceeded most peoples predictions for them this year. Only point i'm making is that the Dolphins have gone out and spent a lot of money and probably did it unwisely. Guys like Wallace and Ellerbe were poor signings in my opinion. They spent big bucks on a glorified deep threat and a guy who was coming off a solid 8 game stretch last year that resulted in a Super Bowl win.
That could very well be true. I personally don't think you can know that after only half of a season.
Obviously i'm talking about the players dealing with it in the locker room before it got this far. The Dolphins HAD to suspend him once the story broke. They would have looked like idiots had they not. If the Dolphins suspended him before anything came out they would look a lot better. Or if somebody in that locker room stepped up and told Incognito to knock it off there wouldnt even be an issue. They let it get to this point.
The NFL is like a brotherhood, Bart might not know every person in the Dolphins locker room but I bet he knows some. And he knows the type of person Incognito is.
Again, dealing with what? Telling him to knock off what? Do you have any idea what went on in the Dolphins locker room? Do you have any idea what goes on in NFL locker rooms? How do you know things were going on that were any different then the things that go on in all NFL locker rooms? I have little doubt that Martin was given a hard time. That goes on everywhere.
Former Bucs player Chidi Ahanotu claims that Warren Sapp bullied him, and other players and coaches. I don't know much about that situation either, but Sapp admits to giving him a hard time.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/99016/chidi-ahanotu-warren-sapp-was-a-bully-2
I think I helped him get paid. And then when he got his 10 sacks, didn't come to the offseason conditioning, yeah, I tortured his [butt] because we needed him here in the offseason. If I was going to be here every day, why wasn't he? He got his $30 million deal, I got my $36 million deal and we were out there in the same dirt. But he still says I'm his brother because he knows I was right to get on his [butt] about not being here.''
I'm sure if you had transcripts of what Sapp said, that you would be appalled. The guy didn't show up for offseason conditioning, and Sapp got on him. I don't know the details, but I don't think Sapp is an awful human being for doing that. I don't think Incognito is either. I need to know more.
What I do know is that the NFL locker room is not a politically correct place. That doesn't make it right, but how do guys like Bart Scott know things were going on that were above and beyond what goes on everywhere else? How are you supposed to put a stop to something that you don't know is going on?
Bart Scott only knows what type of player Incognito was on the field. He has a reputation so people are automatically going to jump on him. No one knows Incognito better than the players that played with him in Miami. From what I have heard the majority of those players are sticking up for Incognito. I have not heard a single player on that team that has come out against him the way the media has.
I can judge him on the language he used in the VM, but I want to know more details before going further than that. Bart Scott and other media members would be wise to do the same.
