Bill Cowher

[twistedjay]

I have a problem with everyone defending Incognito, et al. Jonathan Martin is a genuine intellectual and has been the probable victim of 2 years sustained personal attack by Incognito and others, in the name of trying to toughen him up. He has effectively been coerced to squander his hard earned money on their dinners ($?K - not cheap, they are all big eaters) and extravaganzas in Las Vegas ($15K), because he was rookie and this is part of one of the team rituals. The cafeteria incident was probably just the straw that broke the camel's back. After a probable litany of abuse (aka hazing), JMart reached his threshold. With the attention that this gathered, and Martin's unique position of having both parents Harvard educated (corporate attorney and professor), he is in a position to get top class legal advice.
While most probably think that Martin is at fault, I would argue that his teammates should have shown better judgement than persistently behaving in this manner. Richie Incognito has a proud track record of being the dirtiest player in the NFL. He is a decent player, but his contract is up at the end of this season and he is expendable.
My immediate reaction is that a strong case can be made that Martin is a victim and he is in a position of legal strength and the team and the NFL and the NFLPA all probably know it. All will get top legal advice and Incognito's days are probably numbered. Martin's days as a Dolphin are probably numbered too.
Question - Who are the likely winners? Answer - The Attorneys

+1

I see a few different scenarios as possibilities. This is all just wild speculation on my part, based on twitter and reading internet message boards.

I also suspect that Martin is just unusually soft, which is kind of a perfect storm. With both parents being Harvard educated lawyers he likely hasn't faced much adversity in his life. Perhaps even a spoiled rich kid. He went to Stanford, where he was around other intellectual types. Probably not a lot of thugs around there. And the few bullies that were around could find easier targets than the 300+ lb star lineman.

In the nfl he's around immature guys that are his physical peers, who are used to being able to push people around. They spot weakness his rookie year, and just keep piling on. If Martin went to philbin this past spring as has been reported, then that reflects poorly on the coach as well. He either didn't, or couldn't stop it.

But if Martin is being tormented, why is he hanging out with incognito in new orleans? Why is he helping to steal samuda's car?

The report that he payed 15k to fund the vegas trip is baffling to me if true. I can't imagine a scenario where he could be intimidated to the point of giving away that type of money.

Maybe he's gay? Not that there's anything wrong with that. It could explain why some of the usual locker room banter was particularly offensive to him.

I really know very few facts of the situation. None of us do. But I don't see any way that this ends well for our team. Best case scenario is that he has some sort of chemical imbalance that can be easily treated. At that point we have a mediocre swing tackle who has alienated all of his teammates.

As others have said, i think he is looking for a way out of his contract without forfeiting any money. His original plan of trying to get his qb killed didn't seem to be working. :)

Edit: Posted this before I saw the new reports that it was racial and cogs is suspended.