Martin's high school coach

[JTC111]

Yikes, not good when your own high school coach basically calls you weak and soft.

That's not what he said, nor is it likely true.

 

[ohall]

I apologize if it seemed I was attacking you personally, I wasn't. But I think my point is that not all great players are strong, and not all bad players are weak. I don't think there is anything weak in any way shape or form about Tim Tebow. But he's an awful quarterback. I just think its short-sighted to make a connection between a persons strength of character and his performance on the field.

It's all good.

I wasn't trying to imply because someone is a nice guy off the field they are automatically a weak or soft player. I meant to imply if someone is that way off the field and their on the field results are soft so to speak then they are prob going to have issues with their team mates.

 

[DuderinoN703]

Players don't take a mental exam and scouts and coaches don't interview or have ties with college and past coaches. If Martin was a "soft" player wouldn't this be something that the organization would probably want to know from a locker room continuity standpoint?

If all of what you're saying is true, maybe that should change.

 

[petefins]

He didn't call him weak and soft. He basically said he's a good person that is respectful and kept to himself.

Some people on this forum have an agenda. One other would be Mr. Fox.

BTW You are exactly right. He did not call him soft. He admired how he was respectful and noted that he kept to himself (Nothing wrong with that whatsoever)

 

[gafin]

I was one who could not understand how Coach Philbin did not know what was going on. I see now. No knock on Martin, he is a quiet guy who internalizes things and is just not the average NFL player. If he just could have let someone know maybe all this could have been avoided, and Incognito let go earlier.



http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/thed...ach-bullies-usually-go-after-people-like-him/

 

[spiketex]

Yikes, not good when your own high school coach basically calls you weak and soft.

If you think you are being bullied to the point of a mental breakdown you tell someone, you seek help. Martin failed to do this.

I respect Nubs opinion on most Dolphin matters, but I totally disagree in this case. What the former coach is saying is that Martin is a genuine intellectual, the product of multiple generations of genuine intellectuals (9 family members graduated from Harvard). Martin was also encouraged to go to Harvard (to become the historic first 4th generation black Harvard alum) but selected Stanford because it has a much superior football team. He attended an elite private high school, etc. As such, he is simply not your average NFL player. He wasn't exposed to the kids who were desperate to exit the ghetto. However, he enjoyed playing football and he was good at it.
If you have always enjoyed success, it can become an expectation that it will continue to come your way and in college he had the distinct privilege of protecting Andrew Luck's blindside and he was able to do this really well.
To then get drafted and make it in the NFL, he is not soft or weak. However, his natural inclination was to win with superior skill - you can bet he knows the playbook backwards, but he struggled with having sufficient physical strength to be able to enjoy the success that he had always enjoyed. Bear in mind that if you have always had success, academically/intellectually and in sports, it can be difficult to handle the disappointment of struggling. On top of this he had 8 - 10 hours a day with a bully who delighted in perversely intimidating him verbally, emotionally, financially and who knows, maybe physically as well. I would not put that past the player who was awarded the title as the dirtiest player in the whole NFL. I think that Martin's life became pure hell and he didn't know what to do.
That doesn't make him soft or a sissy or weak or some have suggested he must be gay, it just means that his natural inclination was not to try to settle matters physically by fighting a pretty intimidating teammate, who just also happened to also be the O-line players representative. The cafeteria incident was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Jonathan Martin is simply a victim.
We wait to see how this fully transpires but suspending/releasing Incognito may be the best thing to clear the air and shake up the whole Dolphin culture. I would say that I generally support Ross, Philbin, Ireland and Aponte, but the information coming out suggests that there are issues with the team culture to have failed to identify a cancer and maybe now that we're in the spotlight, changes could be in order.

 

[ohall]

Some people on this forum have an agenda. One other would be Mr. Fox.

BTW You are exactly right. He did not call him soft. He admired how he was respectful and noted that he kept to himself (Nothing wrong with that whatsoever)

Everyone has an agenda.

 

[NBP81]

The coach didn't implied Martin was weak, but I think its safe to say right now that compared to the average NFL player, Martin IS absolutely weak/soft. At this point, I don't even think its arguable...