DAVIE, Fla. — Miami Dolphins players took the offensive position on Wednesday.
DAVIE, Fla. — Miami Dolphins players took the offensive position on Wednesday.
During the past few days, the team has heard comments criticizing its lack of leadership and character in the locker room as the saga of Pro Bowl guard Richie Incognito and second-year tackle Jonathan Martin unfolded.
The players are surprised, disappointed and angry about how Martin approached his conflict with Richie Incognito.
The team was not offended by the alleged racially charged voice mails Incognito, who is white, using the “n-word” to address Martin, who is black.
Fifth-year wide receiver Brian Hartline, in fact, said the voice mail that Incognito sent to Martin was actually passed around the locker room as a joke by Martin at one point.
“It’s like they say,” Hartline said, “the people who can hurt you the most are the ones closest to you, and that’s exactly what happened.”
That was the take away from locker room in which many players offered impassioned testimonials about a bizarre situation that has transcended the football field.
As a result of Martin’s departure from the team since last week and Incognito’s subsequent suspension, the NFL announced it has appointed Ted Wells, a prominent New York-based attorney, to handle the independent investigation into whether the Dolphins have workplace issues. The results of the report will be made public.
Dolphins owner Steve Ross thanked commissioner Roger Goodell. “Once the review is completed and I have all of the facts, we will respond accordingly.”
But, if you went by most of the Dolphins players’ reaction on Wednesday, the verdict would appear to go in Incognito’s favor
“What’s perceived is Richie is this psychopath, racist, maniac, right?” tackle Tyson Clabo said. “And the reality is that Richie was a pretty good teammate, and that Richie and Jonathan Martin are friends, or appeared to be friends.”
Once again, the national media swarmed the Dolphins’ practice facility — more than 100 in attendance, about the same number as Monday, and about five times the usual number — but this time the players were ready.
Unlike Monday, this time the players had done their homework. They were off on Tuesday. Enough time to see what’s been written and said, and how the team’s leadership, from coaches to players, has been roasted nationally. They were angry and prepared to defend their workplace.
As for Incognito allegedly using the “n-word” during a voice mail he left for Incognito, guard John Jerry, who is black, said he wasn’t offended.
“That was my first time actually ever hearing him say something like that,” Jerry said, “so I don’t take it the wrong way because I know him personally. It might rub off on some people a different way, but it doesn’t rub off on me that way.”
Clabo, one of the most cerebral players, took a bottom-line approach.
“I think if you have a problem with somebody, a legitimate problem with somebody, you should say, ‘Hey, I have a problem with this,’ and stand up and be a man. I don’t think what happened was necessary,” he said of Martin leaving and filing a complaint. “You guys are trying to make it about locker room, and this ‘secret code’ that you guys want to make up or whatever. I don’t know why he’s doing this, and the only person who knows why is Jonathan Martin.”