I know everybody and their brother has written a Martin/Incognito/Philbin thread, but my role in this has been sort of unique so I thought I would create my own thread.
This whole saga has moved on from it's initial stage and is now hurtling into it's second, in my view. The first was Incognito and Martin. What counts as "bullying"? What's normal for NFL locker rooms? Is there an investigation? Many defended Incognito initially and called on Martin to "man up." Incognito himself brayed like an ass but when it turned out Martin had proof and was willing to use it the fight was over. Incognito was over. Everyone -- or at least pretty much everyone -- recognized that abuse had taken place.
The next phase of this is going to be Philbin vs. Martin... with the question in this case centered around what Philbin knew and when. This press conference today was a recognition of that fact. Philbin was clear and specific about one thing and one thing only... he knew nothing about abuse until Sunday. And as soon as he found out he acted.
To me this stage separates into two separate subgroups of it's own. What did Philbin know? And what should he reasonably be expected to know?
I doubt Martin has texts or voicemails he can bring out to prove his case should he desire to wage this fight (if the Dolphins put him on the NFI they can withold his paycheck, which would be a catalyst in creating a conflict). Perhaps Martin does have tangible proof not just of meetings but of the substance of those meetings. We'll find out. If his "proof" centers around his own mental health issues -- Incognito Sr.'s allegation that Martin threatened to commit suicide on three separate occasions and is a drug addict and that the entire FO and coaching staff knew about it -- he might not want it to be released.
But the second issue -- what Philbin should be reasonably expected to know -- looms almost at large. I'm sure many will content themselves with the idea that Philbin can't be expected to know things unless he is told them. That his ability to learn is entirely passive, in other words. But to me I doubt he'll be able to escape the charge of being either incompetently detached, or of perhaps having inklings that things were going that he refused to investigate further because it might dredge up issues he'd rather were kept buried.
The Dolphins are a professional sports team with armies of lawyers and PR people but I think Martin's side has handled this issue with great skill, releasing new items each day and controlling the narrative. Philbin's press conference was designed to shift the focus back onto Martin, onto Philbin's contention that Martin asserted that there was no abuse until Sunday and he therefore could not have known about it. Should be interesting to see how Martin's team responds tomorrow, as I'm sure they will.
This whole saga has moved on from it's initial stage and is now hurtling into it's second, in my view. The first was Incognito and Martin. What counts as "bullying"? What's normal for NFL locker rooms? Is there an investigation? Many defended Incognito initially and called on Martin to "man up." Incognito himself brayed like an ass but when it turned out Martin had proof and was willing to use it the fight was over. Incognito was over. Everyone -- or at least pretty much everyone -- recognized that abuse had taken place.
The next phase of this is going to be Philbin vs. Martin... with the question in this case centered around what Philbin knew and when. This press conference today was a recognition of that fact. Philbin was clear and specific about one thing and one thing only... he knew nothing about abuse until Sunday. And as soon as he found out he acted.
To me this stage separates into two separate subgroups of it's own. What did Philbin know? And what should he reasonably be expected to know?
I doubt Martin has texts or voicemails he can bring out to prove his case should he desire to wage this fight (if the Dolphins put him on the NFI they can withold his paycheck, which would be a catalyst in creating a conflict). Perhaps Martin does have tangible proof not just of meetings but of the substance of those meetings. We'll find out. If his "proof" centers around his own mental health issues -- Incognito Sr.'s allegation that Martin threatened to commit suicide on three separate occasions and is a drug addict and that the entire FO and coaching staff knew about it -- he might not want it to be released.
But the second issue -- what Philbin should be reasonably expected to know -- looms almost at large. I'm sure many will content themselves with the idea that Philbin can't be expected to know things unless he is told them. That his ability to learn is entirely passive, in other words. But to me I doubt he'll be able to escape the charge of being either incompetently detached, or of perhaps having inklings that things were going that he refused to investigate further because it might dredge up issues he'd rather were kept buried.
The Dolphins are a professional sports team with armies of lawyers and PR people but I think Martin's side has handled this issue with great skill, releasing new items each day and controlling the narrative. Philbin's press conference was designed to shift the focus back onto Martin, onto Philbin's contention that Martin asserted that there was no abuse until Sunday and he therefore could not have known about it. Should be interesting to see how Martin's team responds tomorrow, as I'm sure they will.
