Richie Incognito: Bully or Best Friend?

Richie Incognito: Bully or Best Friend?

BY Carly Ferreira

Jonathan Martin recently left the Dolphins after claiming his teammates harassed and bullied him. 

The Story

“Right, wrong or indifferent, because of all of this, you’ve become the face of bullying in America,” Glazer told Incognito in a Fox Sports interview. “Someone thinks of a bully, they think of Richie Incognito.”

NFL Dolphins player, Jonathan Martin, left the team a few weeks ago after claiming that he was being bullied by his teammates, specifically Richie Incognito. Locker room hazing, racial slurs, and “perceived bullying” were only some of the things he claimed he encountered.

Richie Incognito was suspended after accusations of
misconduct by his teammate, Jonathan Martin.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jim Wildman, Associated Press  

Martin, 24, said that he wanted to leave because of “harassment that went far beyond the traditional locker room hazing.” Days later, Martin’s teammate, Richie Incognito, was suspended from the team due to poor conduct.

Incognito left a threatening voicemail on Martin’s phone filled with explicit language, including the N-word.

Incognito said that he was embarrassed by the situation, but people misunderstand locker room talk. He also said that he “had Jon Martin’s back the most” in the interview with Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer.

A week before the harassment story was released, Incognito told Glazer that he got a threatening text message from Martin that read, “I will murder your whole F-ing family.” But he did not believe the message because “Martin was his ‘best friend’ on the team,” Incognito told Glazer. 

After listening to Incognito’s voicemail and text messages to Martin, Incognito was accused of bullying Martin and has also been accused of being a racist. Incognito claims that what he said was not meant to be taken seriously and was just a joke.

Martin left the Dolphins, after receiving voicemails and
text messages containing racial slurs and threats of
physical violence.  PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of the NFL

"I'm not a racist and to judge me by that one word is wrong," Incognito said. "It, in no way, shape or form, is ever acceptable for me to use that word, even if it's friend to friend in a voice mail." He said, "it was a joke."

Opinions & Reactions

Opinions vary, but two former NFL players from the same team were asked questions regarding this story. They both claimed that, “the locker room is a complicated ecosystem unto itself.”

Both the offensive and defensive players agreed that they have never been bullied in the NFL, but the defensive player said that what happened in Miami had crossed the line.

He said, “You know the lines you cannot cross, and I think the lines got blurred in Miami. Nobody was able to say, “It’s funny, but you just took it too far.” 

Caption: In this recent interview, Incognito opens up about his 
and Martin's relationship as teammates. 


When asked if the Dolphins locker room situation was taken too far, the offensive player said, “I’d say false … He (Martin) left the team, Richie Incognito said the N-word, and I think that now that makes it really extreme.”

This harassment controversy is still being investigated and Martin is currently receiving emotional help.

Your Thoughts

Do you think Incognito was bullying Martin? Who do you side with, Richie Incognito, or Jonathan Martin? Comment below.