Quote:
Originally Posted by keg in kc
It's a complicated question that somebody a lot smarter than me would have to answer. Although I would say it's not just about when to say it, but how best to say it, too.
Locker rooms are rough places. We all know that. Hell, this board is basically a locker room, the way we bust each others' balls all the time. That's a part of comraderie and I hope it never changes.
But, at the same time, on this issue, it seems like we all have a tendency to jump all over Jonathan Martin and rush to the defense of Richie Incognito. A guy with a record of disiplinary problems and suspensions going back over a decade. And I say "we" because I was the same way when the story broke. Bullying? In the NFL?! Are you ****ing kidding me?
I've had some time to think about it now, and like I said, I think we're seeing two disparate problems here: one is a Dolphins organization which clearly mishandled an athlete to the point that it's become a public embarrassment, and the other is Martin, a guy that I believe is clearly struggling with mental illness right now. Which is I think notable when we're at a time where hotbutton topics include the ongoing study of concussions and the long term implications of football on mental health in the shadow of Junior Seau and Jovan Belcher and Paul Oliver.
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Incognito is a buffoon, no question. Martin violated the code, imho because he was lacking the emotional capacity to do otherwise.
Any team with any kind of veteran leadership would have settled this in the locker room long ago...