During the entire Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin 'bullying scandal' I had one major problem.
Now, I'm going to preface this by saying I have never been a Richie Incognito fan. I wasn't pleased when the Dolphins signed him in the first place. He has always been a distraction and a loose cannon. Neither of those are good for a locker room.
I am not going to defend things Incognito said or cast Martin out of the NFL. I am going to point out that this story is far from complete. Ted Wells' report is supposed to come out this week so we might actually get the whole story.
Once again, I don't like Incognito and I'm not sad that he's off of the team. I never really had and an opinion on Martin and I don't believe his absence was really felt on the football field.
My problem with the Incognito/Martin scandal
My problem with the Incognito/Martin scandal is that it peeled back the blanket on something a lot of people aren't prepared for. It seems that a large group of people in this country want everything to be nice, and perfect, and they think that everyone should get along. Well, that's not how the world works. Sometimes people bully other people, sometimes people are mean, and sometimes people just plain don't like each other.
Now, when bullying is happening in grade school I believe interference is necessary. We've seen the effects bullying can have in schoolchildren in the worst way. But bullying among grown men isn't bullying. It's how grown men interact with each other. You give respect until you earn respect and if you don't like what is going on you say something about it.
It's still unclear whether Jonathan Martin really felt he had an avenue to say something about what was going on. But judging from his actions before and after the incident, especially after reading the texts Incognito released, he didn't feel like his life was in danger or anything close to that extreme. So, he probably should have told the guy to go kick rocks.
Whatever happened between these two isn't the point of my article, though. My point is that most people want to eat the steak but don't want to see how the cow is killed.
I think people forget that professional sports are still a workplace. And just like every other work place there are things the outside world to that workplace wouldn't understand.
As fans we should just enjoy the product on the field, and assume that the things in the locker room should stay there. All of these guys in the NFL are grown men and can handle themselves as such. Now, when these things happen outside of the facility, such as drunk drivers, and gun-toting that's when there should be some outrage. But don't be so quick to judge a situation you don't understand.