Essentially I think the Dolphins may have fvcked themselves over on this one. And the first sign of that was when Joe Philbin reached out to Martin's dad to try and issue a joint statement about doing their best to help Jonathan, and his dad rebuffed him. Miami's very first response when Martin left the team was to blame mental illness, to list him as doubtful, to say he's with his family in California and to put him on the Non-Football Illness reserve list. I'm not 100% clear, but I believe the NFI list severely impacts your pay status with the team. Martin is only set to make $600k this year and he's already made nearly half of that, so putting him on the NFI list basically only saves the team $300k. But of course, the team can't help itself. I don't think Jonathan Martin's Harvard educated lawyer parents took kindly to that action by the Dolphins. That's when you saw FOX start to come out with the workplace environment (a.k.a. "bullying") accusations. Notice they all initially came through sources that would seem to go on to be mouthpieces for Martin's parents throughout the episode. They knew what they were doing. If they could establish the link between the work environment and Martin's mental illness then this is no longer just a non-football illness. The Dolphins would be responsible to continue paying him, and may even be responsible for any career earnings missed if Martin can't recover from the dastardly bullying of a teammate. What's being lost in all this though is Martin's own voice. What does HE think? According to FOX, he only reluctantly let his parents see/have those text and voicemail messages this weekend. The fact that he didn't want to turn them over tells me something. So does the fact that Martin texted Incognito directly saying that he doesn't blame him and it was just the "locker room culture" that got to him a little. So does the fact that even AFTER these threatening messages took place, Incognito and Martin regularly hung out with one another off the field. On at least one occasion they were hanging out together as a pair, prior to the Saints game. What you have shaping up really looks like a slap fight between Martin's parents, Incognito and the Dolphins...and arguably, the only one that truly wants to hear Martin's own voice in the matter is Incognito.
booohoo...... i really hope theres more to this than a 23 year old boy getting his feelings hurt. My support goes to Richie if this is all they have against him. (words)
And considering that Martin has allegedly had issues with depression in the past, its very possible the signing of McKinnie and the "demotion" to RT put him into a funk that players alluded to. Its very possible that in an attempt to cheer him up they played the same prank on him he helped play on Garner the week prior and it backfired. Which all seems likely based on the texts between him and incognito released earlier this week. Plus, when you listen to Wake in the post game on the NFL network it sure seemed like they were all in Martin's corner.
Think about it. Incognito has a tremendous amount of egg on his face from this now that the texts and voicemails came out, because of his twitter rant against Adam Schefter. Why would he do that? Why would he go on that public rant against Schefter, accusing him of having zero evidence, demanding that he clear his name, etc? Perhaps because he thought those texts/voicemails were ancient history and that he and Martin really patched things up and became friends? Perhaps because he couldn't fathom the idea that Martin himself would give up those texts and voicemails to someone else?
That was my thinking too. I've been in team locker rooms, in factories, in fantasy league drafts....and that's how a lot of people talk to each other, especially in private (when the boss, wife, parents, etc. aren't listening or watching. If anyone has ever seen the movie the Hangover, remember when the dentist's wife didn't want him to leave and his friends were outside yelling PAGING DOCTOR (Blank). Those kind of jokes really do happen. But, if it was written down somewhere, it would like his "friends" were evil, twisted bullies who use derogatory insults. What Incognito said is exactly how some people talk with each other to show friendship....it may seem odd to a lot of you, but based on that text Martin sent saying "I don't blame you guys" I would even go as far to say Incognito thought him and Martin were friends. That's why he was so adamant about telling Schefter he was lying and why everyone in the locker room was caught off-guard. This just seems to me like he had a breakdown and went to a hospital or clinic...and probably even feels bad for what's happening to Incognito. Just how I see all this.
Is this the catalyst that finally rids Miami of the incompetence that has surrounded this franchise for far too long? This is not going to end well unless it does , there still is systemic problems that have never been cleaned up it appears and this now is clearly in the owners lap to address properly imo .
I bet he turned white as a ghost when he first heard Martin still had them messages and was going to use them against him.
If this is true, and it rings sort of true, it really kind of puts Martin between the proverbial rock and a hard place. On one side, Martin has his parents, who are thinking for what they perceive as their sons best interest, health, and reputation, and on the other a teammate, whose career in probably now hanging in the balance, and he'll be the person (via his parents) to end that career. And then there are the questions about Martin's mental health, which are involved in so much of this episode. What made it worse on both sides was Martin telling his parents and revealing the text/voice messages to them -- who (may have already known about some of this stuff) obviously are going to protect their own child, and do it as lawyers in the best way they know how -- and then Incognito basically throwing down the gauntlet with Adam Schefter. Since then, Pandora's Box.
I'm guessing those texts and voicemails were in jest... it appears Martin has essentially stabbed his teammates in the back because there is a lot of "lawyer'd" reports coming from Martin's camp. Personally I think Martin's parents are who is driving this story and it won't stop anytime soon. Right or wrong, Richie is screwed IMO.
if I was tormented like Martin I would let some of the stuff go but if what Richie did was true I would sue the hell out of the dolphins and the nfl . I just hope more damning stuff comes out so it will force Ross to sell the team or do a fire sale and clean house. the question is does philbin get another free pass or what ?
You're right, the one thing that we may be forgetting is that Martin isn't exactly stupid...he's got a head on his shoulders... Still, all this crap and Martin never stood up and said "Hey, enough dudes!" I don't get it...I've been in locker rooms before, I've worked with different groups of people over my life...somewhere you have to say stop this ^%& guys...
Been thinking this since this story broke, when I found out BOTH were lawyers from Harvard I knew the **** was going to hit the fan for sure.
One thing is for certain, this whole thing is a huge cluster**** and everyone involved has contributed to it, even Martin. A lot of heads will roll from this incident. They have drawn 1 drop of blood, and the media, sharks and piranhas that they are, have started to circle and begun to tear at the wound piece of flesh by piece of flesh. Safe to say this is only the beginning as this has only just begun to be blown out of proportions.
This must be some situation for Philbin when you think about it. The guy is barely focused on practice, he's focused on how to answer the questions from the media today. Oh and ESPN/ABC is in town cause of Monday Night Football, so this couldn't have come at a worse time for Philbin
It does. That is why Connor Barth (I think the name is right), the Bucs' kicker, is in a dispute with them because they NFI-ed him over a staph infection he caught at their facility. This is utter cheapness by the franchises, who pretty much have a license to print money and refuse to do the right thing. NFI should be for people who are screwing around in their time off, like Kellen Winslow, Jr. with his parking lot shenanigans a few years back. Martin should be IR-ed and paid, because the environment that exacerbated his illness was directly tied to football. You may be right that none of this would have blown up the way it has if that had been done in the first place.
back when I was 17/18 I used to talk to my friends like this... minus the n word as I went to a 99.9% white HS. Used to make up all kinds of names to call each other.
With some phones, it depends how much voicemail you get. Right now, I have voicemails from July that are on my phone only because I haven't actively deleted them.
If Martin handed over the text and voicemails but didn't want to then he has some more growing up to do. if he doesn't believe in what whomever is doing this is doing then you sure as hell don't help them.
And maybe they're two Harvard graduate lawyers that were never that keen on their son pursuing a football career through Stanford and the NFL anyway...
By the way the tweet Jonathan Martin tweeted that probably sparked Incognito's voicemail was the following: "Finished up my last workout at The Farm...Productive 10 weeks. Excited to get back to football" Dated April 3rd. So Incognito's voicemail was from early April.
or in his mind they really were innocent and just jibing between teammates. I wonder if Martins parents are the driving force behind this as you have suggested. there just seems to be too much out there suggesting that these two actually liked each other and hung out together to imply that RI was bullying or terrorizing JM... it's wait and see time for it all to come out because you know RI has the other end of the VM's and texts.
but it is an on going behavior. look at what's out there. his parents have taken control and now are driving full court down the legal highway as Martin grudgingly gave those texts and VM's to his parents and in the mean time is sending texts to RI saying he doesn't blame him or the team for what has happened. this is all out of control for JM and he is gonna lose something now depending on how he handles this. he's gonna alienate his domineering parents if he tells them enough is enough or he is gonna lose the locker room and the NFL if he lets his parents railroad RI. he has been domineered in one form or another his entire life and now it is playing out on a national stage. who does he choose?
I personally don't think Incognito was purely joking when he said those things. I think it was part of an effort he once referenced when he said that Jonathan Martin is toughening up a lot and he and Pouncey had taken it upon themselves to toughen him up in the off season.
Seriously, who jokes like that? Who actually even thinks that's funny? With friends like Richie, you don't need enemies.
What Incognito referenced was how he saw on twitter something about Martin going through some 10 week training program or whatever. That's what tips it off. There's also a tweet from Incognito about when he first arrived at the facility and his locker and saw a sign on it that said something to the effect of "Two things Incognito doesn't like: taxes and ROOKIES". Jonathan Martin retweeted it and laughed. I think it's kind of a running joke how Incognito is with rookies, like he's the hellraiser guy that just hates on rookies and does the dirty work of hazing them.
has anyone even considered the logistics of someone pooping in their mouth? there has to be a lot of planning before hand to make sure this will all work out. make sure you need to poop.. the other person is available and in a position where pooping can easily take place... it just seems like more trouble than it's worth.
Who saves texts from six months ago? I don't have any text from last week. What's the motive? I understand why the media runs with it, because they are mad at Philbin for not letting them in, and it's a hell of a story.
I know. What I am saying is, if Cogs referenced him STILL being a rookie. It's likely because like your tweet said, 2nd year was going to start for Martin.
Well, excluding the racial comment, I have said some pretty ridiculous things to my friends that aren't that different. The context though with my friends is that there are no bounds. I mean if someone tells me they think my mom gave them an STD, I'll vow to speak to her and her doctor and make sure she gets tested
Same here, and this includes the racial comments. You'd be shocked to hear the things we say to each other yet we've hung together for 20+ years now.