I'll start by saying I INITIALLY reacted to this mess calling Martin a ***** and thinking it was him being too SOFT to be apart of an NFL locker room.
When the VM "TRANSCRIPT" leaked, I felt some remorse for Martin with the type of language used by Richie and then changed my position stating that BOTH needed to be off the team, and that Richie was definitely in the wrong and may have went overboard, which he obviously did but I'll get to that in a bit.
While I know its probably STILL BEST for BOTH players to be cut, I honestly am no longer buying into Martin being a victim.......at ALL.
Flame me all you want, IDC. "Oh but you support bullying!" LOL, that's just as laughable as it was (from an NFL "locker room" standpoint) when I first heard it. As players have said...no outsider fully understands what goes on OR WHAT IS SAID in an NFL locker room, and if they did; a "bullying" issue would be the least of the worries that the media would have a field day with. I'll leave this one where it is.
The first realization that my INITIAL reaction was right was when I heard what the players had to say. They all seemed to say it was "nothing out of the norm" in terms of hazing. That everyone went through it, putting up cash for Veterans, etc. I mean really, who's business is it that money was given to vets from rookies? Is it coming out of your pocket, espn's pocket, or anyone else's? NO. It's a team thing, their business, their money. Every team/player is different when it comes to hazing rooks, why are people acting like this is NEW? It has gone on for YEARS without being reported.
Then came the reports of Jon Martin being apart of similar pranks just weeks before, pictures with Incog just weeks before, pranks of his own on Josh Samuda. The fight with Dion Jordan that INCOG came to Martin's defense. The fact that the locker room isn't mad at the "racist slur" that they consider INcog more Black than Martin....that they use that "racial" language among each other..ALL OF THIS leads you to believe what? I mean it's obvious the players call each other names jokingly.
The context of the message was taken way out of proportion for the media to EASILY target Incog given his past history etc. It was almost too easy for them to run with this and make THIS (racial slur) the issue. It ALSO should have been reported 7 MONTHS AGO when it happened, but Martin had other plans as an escape from this all.
The facts are the facts and the players support this. We all saw this kid on Hard Knocks, he WAS SOFT AS HELL. He could have EASILY stuck up for himself as Spitler did as the other rookies did. Incog quickly stopped pestering those guys as soon as they stood up and showed some BALLS, which was his main prerogative.
Should he have not gone overboard? Should he have not used those words? The answer is obvious. I'm sure if Incog was using "N" bombs and his teammates didn't like it, it would have been reported WAY back when the Riley Cooper incident happened. Which, btw, is crazy to think how fast that blew over and how BAD THIS has had a toll on the FINS organization.
Do I think Incog should have been a little less harsh? Yes.
Do I think Martin is too much of a ***** and a snake to be trusted in an NFL locker room, let alone the Dolphin locker room? Yes.
But I would DEF allow Incog him back if it was MY decision. Being that I'm not a qualified NFL GM, I don't have the final say on that.
In the end, its probably best to cut ties with both players, but my main point is the better player, better asset to the team, and what CLEARLY is the better TEAMMATE (ironically enough) is going to be let go because of this distraction mainly because he was doing what his coaches asked of him (albeit going a bit overboard)---to toughen up a SOFT player.
I have always liked Incog for the FIRE he brings. You need those type of guys. This is just my opinion, I'm sure others will respond differently but it would be nice to rally up some support for Incog for those that have realized the truth behind this and still support him as a Fin. If you don't well, everyone is entitled to their opinion.
